Golden Days of Love
by The Lion of the West
Summary: Emotions will run rampant when Feizhi visits Vale seeking Isaac to be her lover. It will revolve around Isaac and Feizhi, but there will be other shippings. Chapter 7: Isaac and Feizhi get some alone time.
1. Chapter 1

Hullo thur! So, anyway, my new story. It's gonna be good...and possibly long. Enjoy!

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Golden Days of Love

Chapter 1

Feizhi unclasped her leather canteen and took a long sip of water to quench her parched throat. She squinted her eyes at the sun and gazed out upon the land around her. The morning light dazzled the land of glittering dew drops as her father's entourage ambled at a leisurely pace through the hill-ish terrain of Eastern Angara.

It was a new spring and the first one after the return of Alchemy to Weyard. It was more beautiful than any spring that Feizhi could remember, and she concluded that it was through Alchemy's influence on nature that the land looked as splendid and alive as it did.

Insects swayed above tall grass of the sloped fields on either side of her as breezes blew across the sea of yellow-green. Deer grazing off in the distance raised their heads to watch the passerby momentarily before bending down again to graze some more.

The trees had bloomed with such intensity that it almost hurt the eyes to look upon so much colour and detail. The cherry blossoms especially, looked incredibly unique in their stunning brilliance of a thousand light pink petals; some of which were shaken loose from the gentle breezes and fell with delicate spins like pink snow.

A few stray petals found themselves caught in Feizhi's light purple hair which was tied back in two loops and a braid. Her father who rode beside her on his own horse smiled lovingly at her and, Feizhi, catching his look smiled back with rosiness under her green eyes.

"Beautiful, just beautiful," he exclaimed in the Xianese language.

"Yes, it most certainly is," Feizhi agreed staring out at the passing landscape.

"I wasn't talking about the land," her father said looking back at her with another loving smile. Feizhi looked back at him smiling this time with a blush.

"Do you think Isaac will find me just as beautiful?"

"I should think so, especially now that his quest is over. He will have the time to love you and marry you, and hopefully even move to Xian."

"Well, Master, I care not where he lives; I will go with him wherever as long as we are together."

"We are not having a training session Feizhi, so please, call me father."

"I'm sorry Father; I'm just so used to calling you by that. We train so much."

"It is rather improper, but don't worry, we do train quite often. I did the same with my father." They smiled at each other and then looked forward at the road.

Ahead, the road dipped down into a small forest. Minuscule forests and sloping fields were everywhere in the wilderness of Eastern Angara and they were home to many animals and beautiful wildflowers. Of which, Feizhi's father snagged a newly blossomed yellow flower off a dangling tree branch and gave it to his daughter. She blushed once again and placed the flower behind her ear.

"There now, even more beautiful."

"Thank you Father." Feizhi continued to smile and then looked away pretending to look upon the scenery. _I hope Isaac feels the same way._ The memory of when she had first fallen in love with him played in her mind for the millionth time….

* * *

Feizhi ran to Hsu. His legs were trapped underneath a boulder and his face was beet red.

"Hsu, are you okay? Can you feel your legs?"

"O-oh F-feizhi," he wheezed. "It's good you're here. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to see you one last time…"

"Hsu, don't say things like that! You'll be okay." Hsu's eyes were beginning to glaze over and he was mumbling indiscernible words in delirium. "Master Hama, we must move this boulder off of Hsu before he suffocates!"

"The boulder is too heavy Feizhi. I don't think there is anything we can do…"

"Master Hama!" A voice shouted from behind them and the sound of footfalls came after. The travelers from before had followed them. "Let me try to lift it." It was the taller blonde-haired boy who spoke.

"Isaac? You came all the way here to help a complete stranger?" Hama said feigning surprise. "Perhaps there is hope for Weyard yet…" she mumbled sarcastically.

Isaac took his sheathed sword off his back and gave it to his red-haired friend. He then took off his gloves and gave them also to his red-haired friend to hold. He studied the boulder as he walked up to it.

"Will you really be able to lift it?" Feizhi asked with a mixture of worry, hope, and disbelief. Isaac nodded and then gave her a reassuring smile.

"Yes, I believe so." It was that look, that smile, that reassuring twinkle in his brave blue eyes that Feizhi was instantly hooked by. She continued to look at him with an amazed, punch-drunk expression as he rolled up his sleeves exposing skinny arms that were toned with nothing but muscle. He cracked his fingers and prepared his stance by widening his legs.

"You might want to stand back." Feizhi nodded awkwardly still hypnotized by his eyes and smile and backed away to stand beside Master Hama and Isaac's companions. The redhead leaned toward her to say something.

"Don't worry; Isaac's got this in the bag." He flashed her a confident smile that could not even compare to Isaac's wonderful smile.

"Got what in what bag?"

"Just watch." Feizhi frowned perplexedly at him, but decided to ignore the odd boy and his foreign sayings. She turned her full attention back to Isaac.

Isaac thrust his hands out to the side, palms out and then swooped them downward in front of him bending his knees slightly and then brought his hands up following his chest, palms up. He did it again, this time widening his feet to sturdy his stance. He did once more and then a yellow-green aura appeared around his body and began to grow little by little.

Feizhi couldn't believe what she was seeing. By the looks of everyone else, she figured they couldn't see it. But then again, Feizhi had the feeling that they did see the aura and had probably seen it many times before, which would explain why they did not look very amazed.

She looked back to Isaac. His arms, palms up, were angled downward in front of him. They were ever so slowly rising and spreading away from each other with each second. The aura's light was increasing and had begun to shimmer and radiate off Isaac in flaring loops.

As Isaac raised his arms, the boulder parted with the ground. A slight scraping sound was heard as it lost complete contact with the soil. Hsu gasped for air with pain as he was freed from the terribly heavy burden.

When the boulder was higher than Isaac's head, he switched his stance by sliding his left foot behind him and having his right side face the boulder. He then drew back his left hand very carefully as if he were balancing the boulder on his right hand alone, and indeed he was.

He then pushed his left hand forward and hence the boulder moved forward too, away from Hsu.

"Feizhi." Master Hama uttered shortly as she quickly went to Hsu. Feizhi followed, not entirely snapping out of her awe as she did so. They both grabbed one of Hsu's arms and, as gently as they possibly could, dragged him away from the boulder.

Isaac however had already levitated the boulder out of harm's way and was currently trying to let it back down to the earth without dropping it. When it was mere inches away from the ground, he let go of his hold and concentration to let it rest upon the soil once more. It made a thunderous thud as it hit the ground and caused a tiny tremor. Cheers came forth from his friends which he smiled modestly to.

"Hsu, Hsu can you hear me?" Master Hama said in a stern voice. "You're going to be fine." Having to break her hypnotic awe on Isaac eventually, Feizhi held her friend's head in her lap.

"Hsu? It's okay, Isaac lifted the boulder. He saved you! You're going to be alright." Hsu couldn't really say anything being so exhausted, but he smiled wryly and lifted his chubby fingers to touch Feizhi's cheek and then fainted. Isaac walked over drenched in sweat and breathing some what heavily.

"Will he be alright?"

"Yes, thanks to you." Feizhi looked at him with a thankful smile and admiring eyes that were ready to slip into hypnosis again. Isaac flashed a smile back. Her stomach did a flip and she was gone…

"Good! Now let's get him back to Xian to mend those injuries. Garet, come here and help me." Garet nodded and then gave the shorter blonde boy Isaac's sword and his own. Feizhi had been looking at Isaac with such a daze that she did not realize what he was doing until he had done it. She nearly fainted, herself, from what she saw.

Isaac had taken off his tunic and scarf revealing his rather muscularly toned bare chest. Feizhi averted her gaze to hide her fierce blush and embarrassment, but couldn't stop herself from staring out of the corner of her eyes.

"Please! Sir Isaac, must you…be so bold?!"

"My apologies, but I am very hot." Isaac gave his tunic and scarf to the blonde boy giving him more stuff to carry. "And please, just call me 'Isaac'." he said with another smile that melted her heart.

Garet came over and then they lifted Hsu with his arms draped across their shoulders. They began the walk down the Alpine Pass back to Xian with the short blonde and the blue-haired girl following. Master Hama and Feizhi were left by the boulder.

Feizhi kept on staring at Isaac's strong back. She was amazed that he still had energy and strength to spare to carry Hsu back to Xian after lifting such a tremendously heavy boulder. Let alone lift a tremendously heavy boulder!...with his mind! Master Hama broke her thought amazement.

"Isaac is quite strong, isn't he?"

"Mm…"

"And he's quite the _catch_, isn't he?"

"Yes, he most certainly is…"Feizhi answered back in a drone-like voice. Hypnotized!

"But what about Hsu?"

"What about Hsu?! I mean…uh…" Hama burst out in laughter. "You were playing with me! Even though you know I'm still digesting everything that just happened, all that I saw! He lifted a boulder with his mind for Sol's sake!"

"Yes, and he looked rather stunning with his tunic off."

"Master Hama!" Feizhi's cheeks instantly burned red.

"Hahaha-hahaha-haha…! Come Feizhi. Let us head back to Xian and mend your _friend's_ injuries." Feizhi watched her go for a moment. It annoyed her that she knew what Feizhi was thinking and was so open and obscene about it. But she knew that Hama was right. Feizhi was head over heels for Isaac.

* * *

As Feizhi came out of her memory trance she noticed her father looking at her inquisitively.

"Feizhi, are you okay?" Her cheeks must have been red.

"Yes father I am. I just can't wait to see Isaac again!"

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So, yeah tell me what you think. It's gonna be good, I'm tellin yuh. I have the next chapter already written and ready to be posted, however, I'm gonna release it after I've completed chapter 3. So, good luck with patience.

Mwhahahahahaha....!

Thank you for reading. Now review.

-TLotW


	2. Chapter 2

Hello hello! Another place called vertigo!... So, here it is the Second Chapter! I told a fellow writer that I wouldn't get it out today (Saturday, May 2), but I did. And that is because I finished the _third_ Chapter just a few mintues ago (12:20 PM EST). You'll also notice after reading this chapter that this fic is going to be a serious romance AND have comic relief and random mischief. And when I say random mischief, I mean me just being random to where it wouldn't be considered 'proper' if it were published in a book. But don't worry serious romancers, it's not _that_ random. Trust me, it's a nice blend of everything. Anyway, enough jibber-jabber. Get reading!

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Golden Days of Love

Chapter 2

Isaac hammered in a nail with quick, successive strikes and then wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm. The late afternoon sun beat down on his back with rays of golden warmth.

He fidgeted in his semi-seated position in between two 4x4 pieces of wood careful to keep his balance and grabbed three nails from the pouch on his hip. Biting onto two of the nails, Isaac readied the third one over the wood and hammered away.

After another thirty minutes, Isaac was on the other side of the house frame having completed a part of the roof. He stared out at his handiwork and smiled a job well done. The other Valemen who were helping with the building of this house examined the roof checking for faults.

"Well m'boy, I think this roof section is finished. You did a good job."

"Thanks Dad," his voice nearly as deep as his father's. He smiled appreciatively to him. "You didn't do so bad yourself…for an old man."

"I haven't been away for _that_ long, Isaac." Isaac laughed. "Let's get cleaned up, then hurry back to Vault. Your mother said she was cooking up beef stew tonight." Isaac nearly pushed his father off the house structure as he hurriedly raced down the ladder. When Isaac reached the ground he called back to his dad.

"First one to get home gets more beef stew!" His father just chuckled. As Isaac bolted to the bathing river, he undid his belt with his hammer and nail pouch still attached to it and held it in his left hand. With his right hand, Isaac slipped his sleeveless brown tunic over his head and caught himself from nearly tripping on his own feet as the ground dipped slightly.

He leaped over a large tree root that was barely submerged in the ground and flew down a grassy knoll towards the narrow bathing river. As he came closer, Isaac dropped his tool belt and tunic and slowed down to hop on one foot to yank his left leather boot off…and then the other. He was already in shorts and so Isaac used his remaining momentum to fling himself off of a large rock into the cool water giving off a shout of exhilaration as he did so.

When he resurfaced, he spat out the river water in his mouth and sighed with relaxation as the heat of the day rapidly dissipated from his body. Isaac floated on his back and stared up at the blue sky and the leaves of trees that bent over the river. The sun was leaving its afternoon angle in the sky and its rays gave everything a dazzling golden wash.

It reminded him of a certain spring afternoon about a year ago when his journey had led him and his group to Xian in eastern Angara. He had met a girl there who he had gotten close to…very close. While Ivan was being taught how to use _Reveal_ from Master Hama, the girl had taken Isaac to see Xian's surrounding countryside. They talked about many things and got to know each other in ways that even elder couples might never have gotten to know about each other. In the few days he spent with her, she had given to him peace, contentment, and a mental release from the constant anxiety that overwhelmed him from his impending, perilous quest.

The spring afternoon in memory had been the last in which they had had together. The girl had taken Isaac to a place that she had shown him before; a cliff overhang that looked out on a massive valley vista. When she had taken him there before, it was rainy and gray, although the view was still impressive despite the dreary weather. This time however, the sun was shining magnificently, white puffy clouds gathered in small bunches and drifted along the vast blue abyss and a rainbow had formed over the valley of green forest and rising, head-round pillars of stone that were the remnants of a huge mountain range.

It bewildered Isaac to see so much of nature's beauty in one glorious view. It was all so much to take in and Isaac was completely awed to silence; all he could do was gape. The girl was obviously pleased by his reaction and giggled at him. Isaac looked over to her asking her what was so funny in which she answered back that he was. Isaac then found himself unable to look away from her. Despite the epic view, his crystalline blue eyes were glued to the girl's leaf green eyes and without realizing it, their faces drew near…

Isaac heard a shout come from his right and was jolted from his memories. He lifted his head out of the water and saw Garet and Ivan scrambling toward the river already in their swim gear (which was just shorts). They were both running headlong toward the rock, but just when they got to it, Ivan shoved Garet to the side causing him to fumble into the river with a great cacophony of splashes. Ivan had done a flip off the rock and resurfaced with a wide grin. Isaac laughed at the whole scene.

"Ivan, you dolt! You could have really hurt me!" Garet sputtered recovering from his fumble.

"Nah! Not really. Besides you're fine now aren't you?"

"Yeah…but you aren't!" Garet charged at Ivan, or at least he tried to; it is rather difficult to 'charge' in waist deep, and then deeper, water. Ivan swam away and Garet swam after him and eventually they were wrestling in the river. Isaac watched with mild amusement. He then noticed more people walking to the river. It was Felix, Jenna, and Sheba.

"Hey Isaac," Sheba called out cheerfully. "How's the water?"

"It's cold, but it's nice. Come on in!"

"Oh we plan to!" Jenna said. The 3 of them stripped down to their swim clothes, which Isaac felt a pang of embarrassment for watching Jenna and Sheba do, so he averted his vision to Ivan, who had just been thrown by Garet.

"Chur-ranamo-oo!" Isaac twisted around to see who it was that was coming in. However, the only thing he saw was a harsh spray of water bombarding his eyes as Jenna smacked the water next to him. He rubbed his stinging eyes as she came up to the surface laughing.

"Urgh! Jenna you have to give me more warning when you do that. You got water in my eyes."

"Aww, I'm sho-rrry," she said in a mocking voice. "Want me to kish it, make it feel better?" She was making fishy lips at him.

"Yesh pwease," Isaac answered back with his own fishy lips. Jenna planted a kiss on each of his eyebrows. "I think I swallowed some water too…" he lied innocently pointing to his mouth. She kissed him on the lips.

"All bett-ur?"

"All bett-ur." Isaac turned to look at Felix who was still on the shore with Sheba. "Hey Felix! Come in already!" Felix was hesitant to go jumping in what he thought was bitterly cold water. He gave Isaac a stern look.

"Yeah, yeah I'm comin'." He put his feet in the shallows which caused him to involuntarily squirm from a cold shiver racing up his spine.

"He's gonna take forever," Isaac groaned. Then he got an idea. "Hey Felix, look at this!" When Felix raised his head to look at Isaac, Isaac locked lips with Jenna and made out with her in an obviously obscene way.

"Oh, o-oh my-" Felix gagged a little. "M-my eyes! My eyes! That's just so…ooouuuuaaahhhh… Get a room! ...Wait! No! Don't get a room! Urghhh…!" Isaac and Jenna burst out laughing at his reaction. Sheba too was giggling.

"Sheba, could you be a dear and help my poor brother into the river?" Jenna asked.

"Why certainly, Jenna!" Before Felix could protest, Sheba pushed him, which was actually quite an accomplishment on her part considering Felix is a tall, young man and hardened warrior/traveler (pssh), and Sheba is a still-growing teenager that is two heads shorter than him. Even better was the fact that Felix didn't quite fall; he tried to regain his balance and ended up going further out into the river before finally falling with a splash.

He came back up spitting water from his mouth in an irritated spray and noticed everyone laughing at him; even Garet and Ivan had paused in their wrestling to laugh. Felix was not amused. -__-

And then Sheba launched herself from the rock and using the wind to give her lift, sprang high into the air, did three quick flips and dropped into the river with a small splash. Sheba resurfaced to a small applause.

"Thank you, thank you very much," she said with mockingly confident voice. She smiled cutely and then swam over to Felix to kiss him.

Garet and Ivan had stopped their wrestling declaring no winner and to continue their fight another day. So, everyone decided to float on their backs and look up at the sky. A feeling of Zen and tranquility settled on the 6 Adepts. They heard other people downriver washing away the sweat and grime of the day's work. But all in all, the 6 of them had calmed down and were enjoying the mostly silent golden afternoon.

Isaac's memories crept back up on him. Why was he thinking of her now? Even with Jenna right next to him, Isaac couldn't help but think of the girl from Xian. During the time he was with her he considered that he was in love with her, but Isaac had never experienced love before and he knew not what it meant to truly love someone at the time.

Upon reuniting with Jenna after the Jupiter beacon had been lit, Isaac realized that he had been truly in love with her since the day they met; since childhood. And she realized the same.

"I hope Piers and Mia are getting time to unwind," Jenna said. Isaac's thoughts wavered slightly from the disturbance in the quiet.

"Yeah they're always busying themselves with healing and cooking food," Ivan added. "They should really be _forced_ to take some time off."

"You think they don't get time to themselves?" Garet questioned with a hint of disbelief.

"Well, yeah they're always so busy," Jenna said.

"Heh, oh they're 'busy' alright." Garet snuffed. Everyone crossed their eyebrows.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Ivan asked.

"It's not really my place to say anything…" They all waited for Garet to go on.

"Buuuut…?"

"But nothin'! I'm not sayin' anything!"

"Alright fine, whatever." And the silent Zen returned.

Regardless of what he felt toward the Xianese girl, Isaac knew he wouldn't be able to forget her. When their faces came together on that last golden afternoon, it had felt so natural and it made him happy to share his first kiss with someone he had grown to really trust in so short a time… and his second and his third and his fourth…

He wondered where she was now, how she was doing…

Feizhi, the girl who had fallen in love with him in Xian….

…

…

…

"I'm hungry!" Garet announced.

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Alright, so I took an artistic liberty in this one just like Chapter 1. In this one, I imply that it takes Ivan atleast a week to learn _Reveal_ from Hama. Therefore, Isaac and Feizhi had some more time to get to know each other and get with the romantics.

But oh noes! Isaac and Jenna are together now. I thought this was a Weird-shipping fic.

Oh, it is...maybe...you'll just have to read to see where I go with it. Muhuhuhwahwahwahahahahahaa.....

-TLotW


	3. Chapter 3

Hello once again readers and time-wasters. Here is the 3rd chapter of my still unfinished-in-outline story. Not much to say except there are a few 'artistic liberties' here as there have been in past chapters and will be in future ones. Now get wit teh readin'!

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Golden Days of Love

Chapter 3

Jenna brushed back a bang that had fallen over her face, at which the blue-eyed blonde walking beside her stared at her with a momentary daze in his eyes.

"What?" she said detecting his fleeting stare.

"Nothing, I just like it when you do that," he grinned. Jenna grinned back softly, a pink tinge appearing below her ruby red eyes.

They walked through the semi completed town of their home, New Vale. No one was working today however, for it was everyone's day off.

Jenna glanced around at the paused construction. Memories of the old Vale seeped into the forefront of her mind. She realized, like she had realized many times after returning from Prox, that the last time she had seen 'Old' Vale before its destruction was at the start of her journey. It almost didn't seem fair, to come home after such a perilous quest to save the world, only to find the home she once knew and loved, her village, had been dragged into the earth with the sinking of Mt. Aleph.

But then, she wasn't alone in this feeling; Kraden, Felix, Garet and Isaac must have felt the same way for it was their home as well. And even Ivan, Mia, Sheba and Piers shared in their disappointment. After hearing so many stories about Vale, they must have felt like they had known the place their whole lives and were rather crushed to see it…gone.

So, Jenna and her companions took relish in the fact that they all missed out on seeing Vale before its demise and felt less dismayed at that shared frustration. The 'foreigners' even decided to help in the rebuilding of Vale saying that if they couldn't see the old one, they'd help in recreating the new one and therefore quench their unfulfilled curiosity.

Jenna also realized that her parents and Mr. Robynson hadn't seen Vale for nearly 4 years and that also helped to ease her own feeling of loss for some reason. Her parents and Isaac's father didn't care so much about it however. No doubt they missed Old Vale and had said so on some occasions, but they were really more content just to be back amongst their family and friends.

The sun peeked out in between white puffy clouds of cotton that glided casually across the blue spring sky. A cool breeze tossed Jenna's hair like it does to strands of spider's web. For once, she had decided to let her hair be free and flowing; the mahogany red tresses falling to the small of her back, wagging and bouncing lightly with her every step.

Isaac entangled his fingers in hers gently as they walked. Even after 6 months together, Jenna still felt her heart flutter wildly when he did that. True, Isaac and Jenna acted as if they were only together to spite her elder brother, but they were deeply in love, and therefore had their fluttery, lovey-dovey moments as well.

She gazed upon him and smiled genuinely and Isaac mirrored the sincerity. Jenna loved that smile, that beam of contentment on his face that told her that they were perfect and meant to be.

Jenna looked forward and saw the picnic table that sat under a large maple on top of a flat, grassy hill where they were headed. Garet and Ivan were there laying down a table sheet and silverware.

"Hello there!" Isaac waved catching Ivan's attention.

"Hey!" Ivan called back. Garet looked up.

"It's about time you two showed up," Garet called out. "We're practically done setting the table, no thanks to you."

"Where's everyone else?" Jenna asked.

"Mia and Piers are bringing the food and will be here any minute," Ivan answered. "Felix and Sheba however…" he trailed rolling his eyes.

"Are probably necking like birds at the moment," Garet finished. "Love birds that is, heh."

"That sounds like them all right," Jenna said. "You think they'd be sick of making out by now. They've been caught so many times already. Just the other day, they were spotted in the forest by the lumbers."

"And last weekend, the baker caught them in his back storeroom," Garet said.

"And a few days before that, well," Ivan started. "I happen to stumble upon them in the inn's lounge necking like there was no tomorrow…at 2 in the morning! Man that was awkward…" Jenna giggled at that.

"Felix and Sheba," Isaac said. "They make quite the couple, don't they?" The other three nodded. "Oh, and look, here they come now." They all looked to the path that leads to the hill and saw the two love birds walking hand in hand toward them.

"Hey guys, is the food coming soon?" Sheba asked as soon as they came within comfortable earshot.

"It should be here any minute," Ivan answered. Jenna and the others gave the pair nervous smiles feeling awkward for having just talked about the two neckers.

"Okay…" Sheba said not quite sure of what they were almost smiling about. "We're gonna go wait over here. Come on Felix!" Sheba pulled Felix to the other side of the hill and disappeared below the rim.

"Wa-oow! They're at it again!" Garet exclaimed. "They're like friggin' bunnies. Pretty soon we're gonna be hearing about children. Just you wait."

"Yeah, no kidding," Jenna said. "My mom actually caught them in bed together. They swore they were just cuddling, but I highly doubt that!" Jenna and the boys cracked up with laughter and then noticed Piers and Mia coming with the food.

"Hey," Piers called out. "Come help us carry the food!" A small, lidded cauldron dangled from the end of a thick pole which Piers balanced on his right shoulder. In his other hand was a basket of vegetables.

Ivan and Isaac dashed to the two Mercurians to help out. Ivan took the basket of vegetables from Piers so he could steady the pole with two hands instead of one. Isaac took the bread basket that Mia held allowing her to hold the apple pie with a better grasp.

"What's in the pot?" Isaac asked Piers as they set the food down on the table.

"Coney stew."

"This looks like it's gonna be a good lunch," Garet said eyeing the apple pie.

"Don't even think about it," Mia snapped and held the pie away from Garet, who went from drooling to looking like a beaten puppy.

"Where's Felix and Sheba?" Piers asked. "Are they coming?"

"My brother and soon to be sister are off over there doing Sol knows what," Jenna answered him pointing her thumb over her shoulder. "They'll come back eventually. Especially when Felix smells the apple pie; he'll drop Sheba like a rock and do to it what he does to her face."

"Ew," Mia said somewhat revolted. "Did not need to hear that…" Everyone chuckled, except for Mia. The food was set; the Adepts sat down in their usual seats: Mia and Piers on one side and Isaac, Jenna, Garet, and Ivan on the other. Mia and Garet were on an end facing each other while Piers sat across from Ivan with Jenna next to him and Isaac at the other end.

A few moments later, after everyone had begun digging into the bread and vegetables, Felix and Sheba trudged on back to the table. Felix looked as though he was in a stupor and Sheba wore a devious smile on her burning pink and flustered looking countenance.

"It's nice of you guys to start without telling us," Sheba said sarcastically.

"Well, we figured you guys were filling up on each other's faces and wouldn't mind if we started eating as well," Garet said with snide grin. Sheba blushed an even deeper pink and pursed her lips. Felix glared at Garet whose only difference in expression was a slight frown.

"Is that…apple pie?" Felix said his attention being averted by a whiff of the pie. His eyes widened when he laid eyes on it. He started to drool a bit, but Sheba jabbed him in the side with her fingers.

"Sit down, silly and have some lunch before the dessert." Felix's face returned to his usually dead-pan look as he sat on the end across from Isaac. Mia began pouring the stew into everyone's bowls. Ivan whispered something inaudible to Garet and then smiled widely laughing through their noses and eyeing at Sheba and Felix.

"What's so funny?!" Sheba demanded.

"Nothing, nothing…" Ivan trailed off. "Except that you two have already had dessert. HAHAhaha…!" He and Garet erupted with laughing hilarity. Sheba narrowed her eyes not finding that funny at all. Isaac and Jenna stifled their growing hilarity, but Sheba noticed them and gave them the same unpleasant look. That, combined with Garet and Ivan's infectious laughter caused Isaac and Jenna to lose control. A whole side of the picnic table was engulfed in a raving giggle-fest . Piers even chuckled a bit.

"I don't get it. Why's that so funny?" Mia asked dumbfounded. That only made Garet and Ivan laugh harder to the point where they fell off the bench-seat and had to hold their stomachs as the waves of laughter went through them. Tears of mirth streamed into their hair as they rolled around on their back-sides like turtles trying to upright themselves. Felix and Sheba stared at them venomously and entirely unamused. -__-

Isaac and Jenna had calmed down and tried to go on eating but, tiny giggles kept popping up making it unable for them to sip the stew from their wooden spoons.

After another minute or so, Jenna was finally able to dip her spoon into the stew and take a hearty sip. The warm, sappy liquid delighted her taste buds with salt and herbs and bits of tasty coney meat; a decent meal.

"Piers, this is delicious," she said still red from laughing.

"This is good," Felix agreed somberly.

"Yes, this is really good, Piers," Sheba added. Garet and Ivan's giggle-fest died down and they returned to their seats to try the stew. "You've out done yourself once again." Piers smiled, but shook his head and hands.

"Thank you, but Mia did most of the work. I actually sat back for most of the cooking process." All eyes turned to Mia, who blushed with admiration.

"Well, this is outstanding, Mia," Garet said. "I think you've gotten even better since our journey days.

"Thank you guys, but it was nothing," she said. "All I did was cook the stew."

"...And picked and prepared the vegetables, and made sure the baker had the bread made fresh and on time, and picked up the apple pie from Mrs. Jerrason." Piers made sure to note. "Don't be so modest Mia, you really did a lot and it all turned out great; this stew really is scrumptious." She smiled at him with timid admiration in her icy blue eyes.

"I just want to be useful…" she said meekly.

"You most definitely are," Jenna remarked. "I recall when oh so many of us have been injured during this construction and you were there to heal us completely without scarring or letting us be maimed."

"Not to mention all the great food you cook with Piers," Garet added. "And all the time you spend with the children of Vale, like telling them bed time stories and entertaining them. You definitely do your fair share of 'usefulness' around here." Mia smiled with rosy cheeks. It felt good to Jenna to compliment her friends, especially when they had a somewhat low self-esteem and petite personality, like Mia did.

Jenna noticed something though. _Garet is looking at Mia the same way that Isaac looks at me when he's really happy. Either, he really enjoys complimenting or…! He likes Mia!_ Jenna did a little victory dance in her head for figuring out what she thought was skillful detective work and a juicy piece of gossip.

_Yup, you're right._

_Who- Ivan? What are you-_

_Jenna, I'm right next to you and Garet. I know what both of you are thinking._ Jenna noticed Sheba giving them both a funny look. Ivan broke the telepathic link.

"So, what were you two talking about?" Sheba asked shrewdly. Everyone stared at Jenna and Ivan.

"N-nothing," Jenna replied nervously.

"Oh really?" Sheba said frankly. She looked at Ivan. "Are you sure you guys weren't sharing mental kissies?" She asked with joking tone, but Jenna knew she was getting Ivan back for what just happened a moment ago. Although, Jenna didn't know what 'mental kissies' were.

"What? No! Of course not," Jenna responded. "What are those anyway?"

"Why would we being doing that?" Ivan said a little too loudly and too quickly, his face going red. Sheba smiled like a cat. "Hey, who's that?" Ivan pointed out to the path trying to avert his embarrassment. Everyone looked. There was a girl walking up the path. Jenna couldn't tell who it was. She didn't look like anyone from around here.

"Feizhi?" Isaac mumbled. He stood up. "Feizhi, is that you?" he said incredulously. The girl stopped and smiled brightly a few feet from the table.

"Feizhi…?" Jenna racked her brain for a memory; she knew she heard that name before. And then she got one: When Felix led them to Champa they had met a girl named Feizhi from Xian. She had been searching for Isaac and wished to give him something. Kraden then guessed rather accurately that she had a crush on him.

Jenna remembered feeling _then_ exactly what she was feeling _now_: unexplainable paranoia.

* * *

Oh-noes, Jenna no likey Feizhi showin up. And, oh! what's this? Garet likey Mia. Or is Jenna on drugs and Ivan a maniacal liar? Hahaha...no, no most likely not, no.

So, anyway, with this chapter I tried to add some more depth to the kind of friendships the Adepts share with one another. And of course, add a teaspoon of plot at the end.

Now get wit teh reviewin'! And expect the next chapter (maybe) around a week from now.

-TLotW


	4. Chapter 4

Hello! Here I am a week later. I seem to be able to write these chapters faster than I originally expected. The 5th one isn't done yet (it's only half way finished), but I figure I'll be able to finish it before next Saturday. And I also figure that releasing a new chapter every Saturday until it's done keeps you guys happy. So, everybody wins!

_Minor Minor Update 5/18/09:_ There are a few small things that needed editing and I just _had_ to correct them. The next chapter may or may not be out next Saturday, so keep your fingers crossed!

* * *

Golden Days of Love

Chapter 4

It was near noon when Feizhi began walking up the path toward the picnic table by the maple on the hill. Isaac was apparently having lunch there with his friends. Her father and her had arrived in Vault and greeted the townspeople early that morning. It was not until recently that she finally ascertained as to where she could find Isaac and plucked herself from her father's side.

She heard her name called and she looked up. There he was, her beloved Isaac. She immediately felt a chill of panic and she questioned her sanity for actually doing this. Isaac got up from his seat at the picnic table and swiftly walked to her meeting her half way on the path. Astonishment was written in his expression. The colour drained from Feizhi's face and she knew she must have looked white as a ghost, which only made her more nervous. She felt her stomach start to involuntarily tremble from the nerve-wracking tension. Even with all her years of meditation and Martial Arts training to condition the mind and body to never stray and come under stress, Feizhi still felt as though she were going to faint if her current stress levels went any higher.

"Feizhi…! Wow!" Isaac exclaimed with surprise. "I… can't believe you're actually here! What brings you all the way from Xian?"

"Um, well… you," she murmured shakily. Her cheeks blushed showing all the more clearer because of her pale face. Feizhi felt as if her heart was about to burst through her chest it was thumping so fast. Isaac looked stunned for a second but then beamed brightly. Ooohh, that smile! Feizhi could melt; it was that radiant smile she had longed to see. Isaac's grin put her anxiety at ease but she remained shaking with excitement. She felt her whole body quivering like a flower surrounded by fire and hoped to Sol that Isaac didn't notice.

"Well it's good to see you. Come come, meet my friends!" Isaac led her back to the picnic table and Feizhi followed, her apprehension greatly renewed at the prospect of meeting Isaac's friends. She laid eyes on them: seven people who, by Feizhi's assumption, were all in a tight-knit circle of trust.

They had been on many adventures and saved the world together. They had been through more than the average person and would not have been able to do what they had done if not for each other. So of course Feizhi felt extremely uneasy about trying to ease herself into and even become a part of such a circle: a circle of supernormal heroes and friends.

And with Isaac, for Isaac, that might just be possible. Even though Feizhi wasn't apart of the Quest over all, she had a tiny part to play, more specifically in Isaac's part of the Quest.

It wasn't that Feizhi really cared about being accepted into this circle for her own intentions. No. She figured that it would be much easier to woo Isaac if she was accepted; if she had his friends blessing in a sense. Therefore, first impressions meant everything at the moment. But, although Feizhi was fully aware of this, she still couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. In fact, it was because she knew this that she was doubly nervous than she should have been.

"Ivan, Garet, and Mia you already know…" Isaac began. Feizhi smiled somewhat twitchily- her nervous level peaking. Feizhi gave a quick bow to them (as was custom for her to do when meeting someone) and they returned the greeting with a simple smile and acknowledging wave.

"…and this is Felix, Sheba, Piers & Jenna," Isaac continued. "You remember, I told you about Felix and Jenna." It was a statement more than a question. "Piers and Sheba are some other companions they met on their journey."

"Yo, wattup," Sheba greeted.

"It is a pleasure to see you again," Piers said with a friendly smile; Isaac frowned at him puzzled. _Again?_ Felix made a plain gesture with his hand that vaguely resembled a wave. Feizhi was still shaking when she glanced at Jenna expecting a greeting, but instead got what seemed like a sharp scolding, which did not help her in this stressful moment.

_"Whoa! She doesn't look very friendly. Why is she looking at me like that?"_ Jenna nodded awkwardly as her greeting to Feizhi. To cover up her spiking anxiety -which she surmised must have been labeled across her face- Feizhi bowed a second time, which had the added bonus of breaking eye contact with Jenna's eyes. Those fiery, ruby-red eyes had made Feizhi feel like she was being drawn into a raging inferno, one that she surely would not have survived unscathed.

"It is nice to see you all again," Feizhi said as best and politely as she could without cracking her voice, and being sure to avoid Jenna's stare as she rose from her bow. As long as she could avoid Jenna's eyes, this could all go over smoothly. Still, Feizhi wondered why Jenna was giving her such nasty looks.

"Have you seen Kraden?" Sheba chided with a mischievous smile. Feizhi automatically recalled what happened when last she met Felix's group and that clever old man… Once again, her stomach was shaking with uneasiness, but she flexed it and forced herself to chuckle to hopefully salvage her failing demeanor and first impression.

"Wait," Isaac interrupted. "You guys already know each other?"

"Yeah, we met when we were in Champa," Sheba answered him.

"Champa? Where's Champa?"

"It's on the southern coast of Angara, beyond the mountains surrounding the Lamakan Desert." Piers said. Isaac looked like he understood.

"She was hoping on a very off chance that she would run into you there," Sheba said. Feizhi smiled awkwardly and gave Isaac a sideward glance. "She wanted to give you a lucky bracelet to protect you on your… _quest_. We told her that we knew you and she asked us to give it to you should we run into you on our own travels. Of course, _had_ we run into you during those times, I'm not sure how it would have gone down…"

"Feizhi," Isaac turned to her ignoring Sheba. "You traveled all that way just to give me a bracelet? That's so sweet of you," he smiled appreciatively. Feizhi's cheeks _burned_ a crimson tint on her sun-kissed pale skin and she continued to smile like an idiot. Jenna rolled her eyes, which no one saw. "But you know," Isaac turned to Sheba, his head tilted. "I never did get this bracelet."

"Oh… er… what?" Sheba gave a discomfited frown as everyone looked to her expecting an excuse.

"Well I, um," Feizhi chimed in, but then trailed off as if she were afraid of her own voice. "I gave the bracelet to Felix…" Everyone's eyes had gone from Sheba then to Feizhi and then to Felix.

"Oh, uh, yeah…" Felix started, his eyes darting around. "Isaac, do you remember that bracelet I was wearing?

"Which one? You have, like, six of them."

"What?! No I don't." Felix blurted, his cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment, which the table found amusing.

"Yes you do, I've seen them."

"Sheba makes me wear them…" he mumbled. The table kept on chuckling and even Feizhi began to chuckle; her anxiety dropping slowly. Isaac gave Felix an incredulous frown.

"Well that explains a lot," Ivan sniggered.

"Anyway," Felix tried interrupting the giggle fest. "Remember the one with golden lace on it? That's the one."

"Oh yeah…" Isaac remembered seeing it on various occasions. "Well why didn't you give it to me?"

"Um, well, it was so pretty… I thought I'd just… keep it," Felix mumbled. Isaac kept on staring at him with his eyebrows on different levels and the chuckling rose to laughter, which Feizhi became apart of and felt the apprehension wash away with each wave of laughter. However, Jenna was not laughing, she was staring at Feizhi out of the corner of her eyes. "It also made me feel safer for some reason, I don't know… I just really didn't want to give it up." Sheba slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Well give it to him now, ya big nut!"

"Oh, all right, fine!" Felix rolled up his sleeve exposing Feizhi's bracelet. He slid it off his wrist and reluctantly, hesitantly handed it to Isaac. Felix looked like a baby who just had his favorite toy taken away. Sheba slapped him on the shoulder again.

"Hey! Where's all the bracelets I made for you."

"I, um… back in my room…" Sheba frowned at him. "I'm sorry Sheba. They're just so…" he mumbled something indiscernible. Sheba gaped at him with shocked anger.

"I heard that you big jerk!" She pouted her lips and crossed her arms.

"Sheba..." But she just flicked his hand away with her shoulder and whipped her face away from him defiantly. Everyone continued to laugh at Felix's hardship. Again, he was not amused. -_- He caressed the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Thank you, thank you for this," he said sarcastically to Feizhi.

"I-I'm sorry," she said half worried, half giggling, but Isaac shook his hand.

"Nah, don't be, he's only joking. Anyway, you made this yourself?" he said referring to the bracelet.

"Um, no, a monkey made it." Feizhi said meekly trying to be sarcastic and keep the laughing going. She got a few chuckles from the table, even Isaac, and her self-esteem began to swing back.

"No, that's not what I meant. It just looks so skillfully made and articulate. I had no idea you had such a talent." Feizhi felt a pang of pride wash through her.

"Well thank you," she grinned with a ray of restoring confidence. "I think there is a lot you don't know about me; maybe we can change that…" She batted her eyes at him.

Jenna's brow clenched and her eyes widened. Her jaw had dropped and she gave Feizhi and Isaac an incredulous look. In fact everyone at the table was rather stupefied to hear what Feizhi had just said.

"Indeed… I really like this bracelet, thank you." Isaac said nonchalantly as he slid the bracelet over his hand. Apparently, he and Feizhi had not noticed the appalled looks the Adepts were giving them.

"Your welcome, I'm really glad you like it." Her face grinned with enjoyment; her heart sang at Isaac's enjoyment for her gift. Jenna however, looked as though she were about to hurl from utter disgust.

"We were actually just finishing lunch, but there's still some food left. Would you like to join us?" The Adepts had fixed their faces before Isaac and Feizhi turned to them.

"Why yes I'd love to," Feizhi lied. She wasn't particularly hungry; all her previous anxiety had taken away her appetite.

"Great! Shove over guys," Isaac ordered to Garet and Ivan.

Isaac showed Feizhi to her seat on the end next to Ivan. Feizhi tried to avert eye contact with Jenna as she sat, but could not help glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. Jenna, however, was not looking at Feizhi, but instead seemed to be avoiding the sight of her.

It unstrung her to say the least as to why Jenna was being so cold to her, but Feizhi chose to ignore it for now and question it later. She finally felt comfortable enough among Isaac and his friends; Feizhi didn't want anything to ruin that now. She took her seat by Ivan on the end.

"So, yeah, just help yourself," Isaac told her as he sat next to Jenna. Feizhi had to look passed Ivan, Garet, and Jenna to see Isaac; Jenna was still not looking at her.

_I wonder why- no, don't worry about that now. At least she's not looking at me…she's scary._ Feizhi actually felt rather out of place to be eating when everyone else had already eaten, so she just took a carrot to nimble on.

"Feizhi," Mia said. "Would you like some stew?"

"Oh yes, try the stew," Garet suggested. "It's really good and Mia made it herself." Mia smiled lightly at that.

"Alright, if you say so," Feizhi said not really wanting to eat much, but also not wanting to offend Mia or feel awkward for not accepting a direct request to try food. Mia poured Feizhi some stew and Isaac handed down a clean spoon to her. Feizhi hesitantly took a spoonful and raised it her lips. She felt like they were holding their breath waiting for her to try the stew. She deposited the spoonful in her mouth tasting the soft, lukewarm semi-liquid. Feizhi liked it.

"This is really good, Mia. What kind of stew is it?"

"Coney stew," Mia said.

"Do you make this often? It tastes more like a delicacy than a casual lunch meal."

"I do actually, but I do my best." Mia smiled, delighted that Feizhi enjoyed her cooking. "Well, anyway, we were just talking about what we wanted to do with our day off. Is their anything you feel like doing, Feizhi? Maybe a tour of New Vale, perhaps? That way we could all talk and catch up and you could see New Vale for the first time."

"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Isaac agreed exuberantly. "You'll actually be the first "traveler" to see it mostly complete." Feizhi liked this idea.

"Mm, no," Felix interjected. "A tour sounds good, but it will have to be without me and Isaac. We're going to go spar." Feizhi did not like the sound of that.

_Who needs to train, now? The world is saved. Couldn't he take someone else to train with?_ She heard a quiet snicker come from Ivan, which confused her. _What does he find so funny?_ He snickered again. Sheba caught on to Ivan's snickering.

"Ivan! Quit reading her mind! That is really rude." She threw a piece of bread at him, which got him to stop.

_Reading my mind? Oh! I forgot; he's just like Master Hama!_

"Yeah, and throwing food at me is _so_ polite!" Ivan retorted, but no one bothered to listen.

"Felix, why do you _always_ want to spar?" Isaac asked. "And on our day off no less."

"You got a point there, but I really just want to fight you."

"But where's the fun in that?! You always beat me." Isaac exclaimed. Felix smirked.

"_That's_ why it's fun. Also, we can fight for that bracelet of yours. I want it back." Everyone frowned at him puzzled. Why in the world did Felix have such an obsession with this bracelet?

"It was never yours to have."

"Yes and I'll fight you for it."

"…No!"

"I _will_ get that bracelet." Felix quickly rose from the table and ran down the path and up the street.

"Where do you suppose he's off to?" Piers questioned.

"Probably to get his sword," Sheba replied. "You better run Isaac. He seems really determined to get that bracelet."

"He _seems_ really bored. I think he misses being on an adventure with something to fight for. It's rather sad really." They all stared at where Felix had run down the street. "Ah, well. Guess I'll get my sword too." Isaac stood up from the table. "I'm sorry Feizhi. It looks like catching up will have to wait till later. You guys will come to the sparring ring right?"

"Might as well," Garet said. Isaac gave a small grin and then ran into the town.

Feizhi stared after him as he ran off, rather perplexed at how random this all was. She felt Jenna's eyes on her again. When Feizhi shifted her vision to meet her glare however, she quickly looked away. Barely a moment later, Jenna got up silently and walked down the hill onto the fields that led to the sparring ring.

_Strange…_ Feizhi was watching her but heard Ivan's giggling again and gave him a slight frown.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," he said in excuse. However, Sheba flicked a small spark from her fingers which shocked Ivan off his seat.

"That'll teach ya, you nosy, little worm," Sheba said with satisfaction. Ivan was smiling dumbfounded with drool dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. His fingers were gnarled and he lay on the ground _mostly_ motionless -an eye and a foot twitched sporadically. Garet shook his head at him.

"Just shameful, man."

Feizhi stared at Ivan, now even more perplexed. She looked to Sheba as if to find an answer.

"This kinda' stuff happens all the time around here," Sheba shrugged. "I hope you're ready…" she said smiling like a feline.

* * *

So, the 4th chapter...it could get messy... And Felix's obsession with bracelets may go over board in the next chapter, I'm not entirely sure because I haven't written that part yet.

I'll get with the writing. You get with the reading and reviewing! Like now. Critiques and Critisicms are just as useful, if not more useful, than Compliments, but I always enjoy a nice Compliment. But be sure to state why you didn't like something. That way I can improve my writing and blah blah blah I'm sure you readers have heard this from other writers.

Now review!

-TLotW


	5. Chapter 5

I'm back after 2 weeks of procrastination vacation. I apologize for the 2 weeks delay, but it payed off because this is my longest chapter yet. Read it now!

* * *

Golden Days of Love

Chapter 5

Jenna scrambled down the hills in a quick huff. She could not have been more relieved to leave that table. She couldn't even figure out why she was paranoid about Feizhi's sudden appearance, but she did know why she was irritated.

_How dare she! How dare she do that in front of me and my friends! _Our _friends! And he didn't even react to it, as if it were nothing! She totally flirted with him and he did nothing, said nothing; just wrote it off like it _was _nothing. What nerve! The both of them!_

_Doesn't she know what a mistake that was? Doesn't she know why I gave her such nasty looks? I know she saw them; our eyes met for less than a second, but I saw her anxiety and my own intimidation mirrored in the reflection of her eyes. _

_Does she even know that Isaac is with me? Maybe Isaac didn't tell her… But then why wouldn't he do that? The last time he saw her, I wasn't around and…Xian… We weren't even together at the time. So, maybe she really _doesn't _know…_

Jenna stepped over a small, muddy depression in the ground and kept on walking through the sea of yellow-green grass. A startling thought popped into her head.

_Wait a minute, Isaac had met her when I wasn't around…when we weren't together …Did he…and her…oh my Sol! They were together! They were together in Xian! And that's why she's here now. She wants him back!_

A terrible image came to Jenna's mind of Isaac and Feizhi staring each other in the eyes and slowly pressing their lips together…

Jenna halted in her qualm. Her mouth was slightly agape and her eyes stared off into the distance with shocked revelation. Her heart pounded, almost painfully, against her chest as if she just ran 12 leagues without stopping. Her breath was coming short and she felt like she was about to scream…or faint…

_They were together…it's the only explanation._ Warm tears began to well up in her eyes, total dismay wracked her being, and she stood in the field frozen, motionless. The tears blurred her vision and threatened to overflow when another thought came to fruition.

_Wait a minute; even _if _they were together back then, they aren't now. We are. And we love each other. That's that. Feizhi will just have to accept that. But then why didn't Isaac introduce me as his girlfriend…?_

The tears remained on the verge of spilling, but didn't. Instead, Jenna blinked them away. Her analysis was incomplete; Jenna did not have enough information and would only be jumping to conclusions at this point. So, there was no need to cry over something that was merely conjured up by an over-active imagination…not yet at least. Jenna would have to talk to Isaac and hopefully quell her paranoia later on.

She started walking again. The sun shined with a slight gray tint and a breeze messed with Jenna's hair causing it to fall over her face. No hand came up to brush it aside though for she was lost in thought.

Isaac would tell her what she wanted to hear: the truth. And it wouldn't be bad at all. It couldn't be bad, it just couldn't. And then everything would be all right. Nothing would change, nothing would be disturbed, their relationship would not be disrupted and everything would be just fine…

That's what Jenna told herself anyway. She hated to think of what might happen if Isaac told her the truth and it wasn't what she hoped to hear. Like, that he and Feizhi were actually together and have been the entire time; and the relationship that Jenna and Isaac were in was a big lie; and the deep feelings that Jenna had for Isaac would go to waste; and Jenna would end up alone for the rest of her life because Isaac was the only one she truly felt comfortable with and trusted with handling her powerful and complex emotions.

She didn't know what she would do…if she lost Isaac…

_Oh, why did Feizhi have to come? Why must I even feel this way? Am I just being foolish? I must be. Isaac loves me and I love him, we love each other. So, what's to worry about…?_

But that was just it. There was a lot to worry about. She didn't know what it was exactly, but she knew there was something wrong; she just couldn't quite wrap her mind around it.

_It's gotta be Feizhi; I'm worried about her coming here, and how she talked to Isaac and how he responded to her. He was smiling so much around her. Why? Something just seems so wrong here… They must have been together, they must have._

Her mind was going in loops now. Jenna's _delusional _questions were not finding answers and so her paranoia was going the only route that it could: backwards.

_It's the only possible explanation. That's why I feel so weird, why this whole situation feels weird._

And now it was a _situation_.

_This Feizhi situation…_

A 'Feizhi _situation'._

_But, even if they were together, that doesn't mean they'll get back together…does it? I mean, Isaac and me, we're in love aren't we? Yes of course we are! Don't be silly! You love him and he loves you. _

More loops, and possibly a splitting personality.

_And there's nothing anyone can do to change that, not even Feizhi… Still… I do hope that they _weren't _together back then..._

She hoped beyond hope.

_And to be honest, I doubt they were…_

What she doubted was _that_ doubt. The image of Isaac and Feizhi kissing flashed through her head again… And again… And again… Over and over, that horrible vision repeated itself. Jenna couldn't control it, it just kept circling in her mind. She felt like she was about to scream again. No. She felt like she was going to _explode!_

And just when she really was about to scream, a hand rested gently upon her shoulder snapping her out of her thoughts and siphoning away the urge to scream. The scene immediately vanished from her mind and she quickly turned to see who was with her. There was Ivan's violet eyes looking slightly up at her expectantly.

"Hi Jenna!" he said cheerfully.

"Uh, hi Ivan. What are you doing here?"

"Heh, silly. Don't you remember? We're here to watch Isaac and Felix spar."

"We are? But we're not even at the sparring ring."

"Yes we are…" Ivan pointed behind Jenna. She followed his finger and there it was: the sparring ring. Jenna looked puzzled.

_I must have been so deep in thought that I didn't even realize that I got here. …Heheh…_

"You okay Jenna?" Ivan asked.

"Wha- yeah! Sure! I'm okay, great even!" Ivan gave her a suspicious look. "Hey, don't you dare read my mind."

"I don't have to, to know something's up. So…want to talk about it?" For a moment, Jenna seriously considered telling Ivan all her paranoid thoughts and how much she hated Feizhi right now. She mentally shook her head though, disagreeing with the idea.

_It would be best not to tell him, I think. I don't want to freak him out; I mean there is no way he could possibly understand what's going on, how I feel. And besides, he might go tell Isaac or somebody and I don't want anyone knowing about these thoughts of mine just yet, especially Isaac. I could be wrong, and telling someone might just make a huge mess of things._

"No, that's okay. There's nothing to talk about anyway," she lied. She turned away from the short blond and went to lean on the low fence on the perimeter of the small arena. Her eyes stared lazily at the floor of the sparring ring.

They're used to be grass there, and lots of trees. However, from the lumbering and construction that had occurred at the beginning of the rebuilding, the grass was trampled and squashed until it died. According to Felix, the grass had "decided" to grow somewhere more hospitable. So, the ground was left a tiny dust bowl, with dirt that was sandy and grainy; unfit for anything to grow proper.

Then one day, Felix began whipping Isaac with a stick and Isaac picked up another stick and they just began dueling right then and there…with sticks, so it didn't last too long. After the lumbering moved onto other parts of the countryside, Felix came back, put up a fence and dubbed it the 'Sparring Ring'.

Jenna let her eyes wander from a pebble to a shaded patch of dirt to a leaf falling from a tree. Jenna watched the leaf spin and fall until it reached its inevitable destination on the barren ground.

She then stared up at the sparse trees surrounding the sparring ring rocking in the light breezes as Ivan leaned on the fence next to her. She ignored his presence not particularly in the mood for talking and socializing.

Her thoughts weren't going anywhere and she really didn't want them to. She felt totally blank and void of feeling, like an unused sheet of parchment. The only thoughts that did bubble up were of Isaac and Feizhi, but she didn't want to think of them anymore. She wanted answers yes, but to keep on dwelling on her questions and…_them…_would only lead to more panic attacks and get her nowhere. So, she remained spacey, finding it better to not think at all.

Of course, the more 'blank' she was, the more she couldn't ignore Ivan. Despite his small stature, Ivan's presence loomed in her mind as if he were some large entity that was foreign to her thoughts. She glanced over at the boy to see what he was up to. As she laid eyes on his dirty-blond hair, Jenna could have sworn she saw him dart his eyes away as if to hide the fact that he was ogling her.

This raised a tiny, miniscule thought in her mind that filled in the emptiness and even replaced her other nagging thoughts for a moment. But she dismissed it as nothing and went back to being blank…sort of.

She kept Ivan's head in the peripheral of her vision and watched him. Another moment went by and she saw his head turn ever so slightly. The tiny, ignored thought that had arisen, arose again and nearly sent off a thought landslide. But again, Jenna decided to ignore it, not wanting to indulge it. She didn't want to give her mind more wacky things to contemplate and jump to conclusions about.

"Ivan," Jenna suddenly said. She kept looking forward trying to appear aloof. Ivan nearly jumped at her voice. His face turned a bright shade of red and he turned away from Jenna so she wouldn't see. "Where's everyone else? I thought they were coming."

"Oh, they're coming. But they were chatting with Feizhi when I left, so they might take a moment." Jenna's previous thoughts about Feizhi erupted for a split second in her mind. She felt a sickening rush wash through her stomach with lightning speed. Anger, jealousy, frustration, all of it at once for a brief moment and then gone.

"Oh, I see. So, then they'll be here soon." It wasn't really a question.

"I should think so, yeah." And it went back to silence, save for the rustling of the trees. Another moment passed by… and another… Jenna stared upward into the sky above the sparring ring. What was blue about an hour ago when they began eating was now white-washed with a thin overcast; grayish white clouds drifted against the overcast like wet wads of cotton on more wads of cotton.

The silence was beginning to wear on Jenna. Being in such close proximity with someone -even though he was a close friend- and not talking was starting to feel rather awkward. Jenna contemplated idly walking around or even leaving, but before she could make up her mind, she heard voices come from behind her. Jenna was actually a little happy for her friends breaking that slightly awkward silence, but then she saw Feizhi amongst them, _her friends,_ and was immediately back in her pouty, brooding mood.

Ivan turned to face them, but as he did, his eyes lingered over Jenna for a split second longer than would have been necessary. Once again, the thought arose and then was subsequently shoved away; she didn't need more to think about than she already had.

"Hey, there you guys are," Ivan said as if they had gotten lost. "We were just waiting for you guys to show up."

"Yes I'm sure you were," Sheba said. "And you were probably giving Jenna mental kissies again werntchya?" She smiled like a cat directly at Ivan and his face went red again.

"Shut-up Sheba!" he hissed. He was actually red with frustration this time and he looked ready to pounce on Sheba if she said another word. Sheba however, was not intimidated and continued to smile like an evil kitty.

"So when are they gonna show up?" Garet asked. "I wanna get this over with."

"I thought you liked watching Isaac and Felix spar?" Ivan queried.

"I do…well…no, I used to, when seeing those two go at it was exciting; none of us really knew who would beat the other. But after the 5oth time it was obvious that Felix was the better fighter; Isaac never won. So, I lost interest, and I doubt this time will be any different."

"Well I think this time will be different," Feizhi chirped up. Jenna felt her stomach jerk at the sound of her voice. Her eye twitched in rapidly growing annoyance.

"What makes you so sure?" Garet asked with skepticism lining his tone.

"I don't know, but this time will be different. You'll see." Feizhi assured. Jenna rolled her eyes at Feizhi's blind admiration for someone she barely knew; someone that Jenna did know very well. Feizhi acting like she had known Isaac her whole life was only deepening Jenna's irritation. She really just wanted smack Feizhi across the face and yell at her that Isaac was her boyfriend and that she was barking up the wrong tree.

In fact, why couldn't she just do that…? Maybe Isaac was trying to be polite and not break her heart so abruptly. Jenna could understand that; Feizhi still annoyed her to no end though.

_But what if it isn't that?_ Jenna's mind began to seep back into panic mode. Her thoughts flitted hurriedly through all the nasty information and terrible theories that she thought up just recently. She stopped herself from spilling into a panic attack again however, before her dread became any worse. Taking a deep breath, Jenna situated herself apart from her friends and looked up at the sky to calm her senses.

The clouds drifted by, the breezes continued to blow through the tree branches; moments went by rather silently save for the Adept's idle talking. Jenna remained silent and preoccupied with keeping her emotions under control. Engaging in conversation might only open her up to start trashing Feizhi to her face and then burning her in an inferno of complete and utter annihilation.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, Jenna saw Felix run from over the fields with Isaac close behind him. Both of them had they're wooden swords tucked in their belts. They were both wearing the more rugged clothing that they used for this kind of occasion. Felix came to the fence and flipped over it with graceful ease. Isaac came to the fence and merely vaulted over it with equal ability.

"It's about friggin time!" Garet complained. Isaac gave him a small grin. Jenna and the other Adepts gathered on the fence and silently watched as Isaac and Felix readied themselves for the match. As Isaac walked to the left side of the sparing ring, he spun his hands upon his wrists. His rotating hands drew the dusty dirt on the ground to them and he rubbed the dirt into his palms to give himself better grip. Felix did the same while also skimming around the ring on the dirt as a small show of his powers of the earth.

"Remember: no Psynergy," Felix warned. Isaac nodded to him in compliance.

The Venusians came to the near center of the ring and unsheathed their wooden swords. Twirling there swords in their hands they came to the center of the ring and took stances. Neither moved for what seemed like an absurd amount of time as they stared each other down gauging the other's possible first action. Jenna really wanted them to start fighting already so that she could have something to preoccupy her mind.

"Well? Should I make the first move or what?" Isaac asked. As soon as he said that Felix launched himself at Isaac, wooden sword raised over his head. Isaac parried his downward swipe and retaliated with a horizontal swing at Felix's side. Felix had recovered from the parry and blocked Isaac's attack with his sword and then swung around at Isaac's feet. Isaac hopped to the side over it and came back swinging down at Felix, who had rotated completely around and brought his sword up stopping Isaac's weapon from landing on the other's shoulder. The wooden swords clanked against each other with sharp thwacks.

Cheers erupted from their friends on the sidelines. They weren't cheering for anyone in particular, they were just cheering to urge on the fight. Of course, Jenna wasn't cheering, but rather brooding and watching silently.

The two fighters pushed off each other, but Felix stepped forward with a thrusting stab. Isaac spun out of the way and landed a resounding smack across Felix's upper back sending him sprawling to the ground. Felix was not dazed from it however; on the ground he rolled onto his back and spun his legs around to set himself into a kneeling position. Felix switched his stance up as he rose to his feet; he flipped his sword backward so that it pointed behind him, not toward Isaac. Isaac tilted his head at the strange stance. To Jenna, it looked odd and cumbersome for a sword to be held like that and yet Felix used it every time he fought with Isaac.

"Using that stance, eh?" Isaac queried. Felix's normally dead-pan expression was betrayed by a slight smirk. He then stepped to Isaac, but did nothing that Isaac expected. Felix immediately launched his body into the air rapidly barreling horizontally and brandishing his sword at an angle that Isaac couldn't see coming. Felix's weapon hit Isaac square in the chest and the wind was knocked out of him. He didn't have time to recover as Felix did a side flip and attacked again with crazy spins that Isaac always found hard to retaliate against.

Isaac did his best to block, parry and dodge, but all Isaac could really defend was his head and chest. Felix connected many hits to Isaac's arms, shoulders, hips and thighs. He eventually let up his assault to get a quick breather which allowed Isaac a brief lapse for his battered body. Isaac decided to switch his own stance to try and even the match. He alternated his own sword backward like Felix had done, but took a different stance that had his arm up by his chest with the tip of his elbow and the sword pointing directly at Felix.

Felix swung at Isaac's temple but Isaac ducked and the sword zipped over his cranium. Isaac quickly swung his right calf around into Felix's right ankle. Felix's leg flew upward -his balance severed- and his back smacked the dusty ground. Felix however, recovered with Ukemi and rolled himself back to his feet as soon as he hit the dirt. Isaac was ready though; he flung his feet and legs forward sending high-flying roundhouse kicks at Felix. Felix bent his knees to dodge one kick and twirled to the side to dodge another one.

As Isaac was about to land a roundhouse kick in Felix's face, he leaned backwards permitting Isaac's foot to just skim his nose. Isaac kept his momentum, whirling around with his leg and bending down to try tripping Felix again. Felix saw this coming and cart-wheeled backwards to avoid the blow. Felix then came back with a series of sidewinder kicks. Isaac deflected a few and then grabbed hold of Felix's leg with his armpit and the crook of his arm.

Isaac held him there staring Felix intensely in the eyes. Felix met his gaze with a stern look and tried to wrench free of Isaac's grip. The two were at a stalemate; Felix was stuck, but Isaac couldn't strike or do anything without dropping his sword or releasing Felix's leg. He could whack Felix's exposed knee, but Isaac considered that a cheap move.

Isaac decided to drop his sword and twist Felix's leg with both hands to put him in a pin-hold. Felix reacted however, by quickly following the twist and barrel-rolling in mid air forcing Isaac to release his leg. Felix ended up on the ground face down and Isaac took this chance to jump on his back and pin him by grappling one of his legs. Felix was rendered useless and unable to escape.

"Who's the winner?" Isaac exclaimed to Felix. Felix just growled in annoyance. "Who's the winner?!" Isaac repeated a little louder. Felix tried to jerk out of Isaac's hold on him; Isaac strained to pull harder on his leg. "We can do this all day Felix…who's the winner?!"

"Erg…you are!" Felix gasped with clenched teeth. Isaac released his leg and the tension in the two young men slackened. Isaac stood up and breathed heavily to restore air to his lungs.

"That was…a good match…Felix," Isaac said with a slight grin in between breaths. Felix rolled onto his back also breathing heavily.

"…Yeah," he gasped. Isaac offered his hand to help him up but Felix waved him off wanting to stay lying on the ground. Isaac shrugged and turned away to trudge back to his friends. Garet and Ivan rushed over the fence to him.

"Alright Isaac! Yeah Isaac!" Laudatory shouts came from his friends as he walked over to them.

"Holy crap dude! You won!" Garet grinned with astonishment. "I can't believe you won!"

"I can't believe you doubted me," Isaac joked.

"That was so cool," Ivan said exuberantly. "The way you both fought was crazy!"

"Well, I really just got lucky I think," Isaac trailed off showing great modesty. Isaac glanced over to Feizhi who was smiling with complete admiration for him. He beamed a quick grin to her while his friends talked around him about the fight.

Isaac looked to Jenna who was watching with perplexed emotions and had a rather wan look about her. Isaac saw this, but gave her a gentle and sincere smile that could make an demon trip on its own feet; one of those smiles that made his very person shine with joy captivating any who looked upon him. Jenna perked up taking notice to Isaac's glorious gaze and for some reason, that smile put Jenna at ease about everything. Everything would be alright. Isaac was still in love with her and there was nothing to be paranoid about.

Isaac held his stare and Jenna kept ogling his crystalline blue eyes. Even though they were no where near close proximity, she saw his twinkling eyes and face as if he were right up close to her own. Jenna didn't know how long they were looking at each other like this, but she began to go into a sort of trance and the peripherals of her vision went fuzzy. She dared not blink so as to break the wonderful staring contest. All her vision focused on was his glorious eyes.

And then all of a sudden his eyes shifted, his face flew to the side and Jenna's trance was broken. Isaac was on the ground on his back with the wind knocked out of him. Jenna was stumped as to why he would fall for no apparent reason, but then heard Felix laughing and knew exactly.

She leaped over the fence, anger building up inside her once again at the all too sudden change. Her new frustration and rage now fixed upon her brother for tripping Isaac with his Venus powers and ruining the joyful staring contest that she and Isaac were having. Felix was still on the ground laughing when Jenna threw herself on top of him, making sure to dig her knees into his gut so as to knock the wind out of _him_. At which Felix yelped in pain from the attack and the other Adepts winced from observing it.

"Why did you do that?!" she hissed with clenched teeth. She grabbed his shirt collar and shoved her demon-angry face up close to his. Caught between laughing and then suddenly getting the air shoved violently out of him, Felix was sputtering for air and could not really answer. This did not stop Jenna from attempting to obtain an answer though. She pressed her knees further into his abdomen forcing him to wheeze out something.

"Y-you're really heavy…" he coughed.

"What was THAT?!" Jenna shrieked and shook his head back and forth violently.

"…a-and strong…"

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" Jenna repeated, this time louder and more threatening.

"Instead of worrying about why I did what I did," he gasped. "Maybe you should worry about your boyfriend." Jenna's anger came to a halt for a moment realizing that Felix had a point. She looked over her shoulder to check on Isaac and what she saw she did not like one bit.

There was Feizhi bent over Isaac on the ground and making a fuss to make sure he was alright. They got up with Feizhi taking special, yet highly unnecessary, effort to support Isaac to his feet. Isaac smiled to her _genuinely_ in thanks at which Feizhi beamed back with a smile that truly revealed her intentions.

"I'm alright Feizhi, thanks," Isaac implored. "I'll go change and then we can get on with the tour." Isaac ran on up ahead of the now leaving group. Jenna held her stare pinpointed on the back of Feizhi head and her stupid Lavender coloured hair style. Jenna's facial muscles could not possibly be contorted and clenched hard enough to fully express the hatred she felt right then. She thought of blowing something up with a fiery explosion, but realized that would not be enough to extinguish her taut anger.

Felix was becoming impatient and so pushed Jenna off him which snapped her out of her death stare on Feizhi. He stood up brushing himself off.

"Told ya," he said with a snooty smugness and his trademark dead-pan expression. Jenna's lips twitched; she clenched her teeth, and balled her fingers into a fist. She growled furiously as she sent a mighty blow into his gut.

Jenna walked away huffing indignantly as Felix bowed forward onto his knees gasping for air once again. She did not want to be near anyone at all now. So, there was _no way_ she was going on some stupid tour for some stupid girl that she couldn't stand to be around.

* * *

Oooh, that's gotta hurt! So, Jenna is very pissed and no one seems to really notice...except for Felix. I mean he's gotta notice now after getting the snot beaten out of him by his sister, right? Why am I even asking you? You aren't writing the story.

Anyway, don't expect the next chapter a week from now because it isn't even started and I plan to spend a lot of time on it. So, prepare for a long wait my loyal readers. And don't forget to review. Your critiques help me write better, so critique away. A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed and stuck with the story thus far. I hope you will continue to read my amateur crap in the coming future.

-TLotW


	6. Chapter 6

Greetings and welcome back. It's good to be back. After months of vacationing, procrastination, a blown-up laptop, and now college, I have finally posted Chapter 6. I hope you like it.

* * *

**Golden Days of Love**

**Chapter 6**

Ivan walked beside Piers and Mia as the adepts made there way back to town. Ivan looked upon Feizhi idly trying to find if there was anything sinister about her. She walked ahead of him flanked by Garet and Sheba chatting, smiling and laughing with them friendly enough. Her whole persona gave off a vibe of sincerity and joy.

Upon further examination of the surface of her emotions (with a slight use of his Telepathy) he could read nothing beguiling about her. She was actually more nervous than she let on, and merely wanted to fit in and catch Isaac's attention. That of course was a problem, one that would have to be dealt with the utmost fragility at some point.

He surmised that _that_ was why Jenna didn't like her. Oh yes, he knew. How could Ivan not know? The nosy little bugger always managed to slip a quick probe into the minds of others. And he had gotten good with it too, attaining such sneakiness with his Telepathy that no one would know that he was navigating their minds unless he let them know.

The Jovian then remembered: Jenna; she was still down in the ring beating the snot out of Felix. Ivan slowed his pace falling behind the group. He was about to suggest to his friends that they wait for the siblings. But then, out of nowhere, Jenna brushed his shoulder and walked next to him.

"Oh Jenna, there you are," Ivan said cheerfully. "I was just thinking we should wait for you and Felix."

"Nah that would take too long. See, Felix isn't feeling too well at the moment." Her voice was stiff, as if beating up her brother hadn't made her happy (and it usually did).

Ivan looked upon her with a half-grin and noticed that something about her wasn't right. Her complexion was flushed and the look in her eyes was dull. It wasn't like her at all to look so depressed. Ivan didn't like it.

He shifted his vision to the ground in front of him and focused on his walking, doing his best not to wobble awkwardly; being close to Jenna always made his legs tremble. The path they were walking on had been padded down from frequent to and fro stomping of lumberers in the recent months, but it still wasn't the smoothest of paths. It cut across the fields and led straight toward the town and the "New Plaza".

"So, Felix isn't feeling well now?" Ivan asked trying to restart conversation. She just shook her head, keeping her eyes forward and seemingly unfocused.

Ivan contemplated what this could mean. Jenna could have inadvertently fried her brother, and for all Ivan knew Felix could be dying of third degree burns and in major need of some Hermes' Water. And no one would have thought of it happening because the siblings squabble so often.

Curious now, Ivan decided to take a quick peak into Jenna's mind. He subtly shot forth a Telepathic probe to latch on to Jenna's forward thoughts to find out what happened right after they had left. Ivan had just asked Jenna about Felix's condition, so it should be one of the first things on her mind. And he got his answer...

He did not want to look deeper than that, but the feel of being inside Jenna's mind…it was so blissful to Ivan. His mind probe slipped a little deeper and he felt a pang of dark emotion resonate from the depths of Jenna's mind that seemed to be centered on Feizhi.

Ivan pulled away before he lost control (a rather odd thing for him considering his skill in mind spying, but then again it wasn't just anyone's mind); he dared not look any deeper; he did not want to invade her privacy anymore than that. He also reminded himself never to get on Jenna's bad side. Which meant probably never probing her mind all together because if he slipped like that again and she found out…well, Ivan didn't want to think what she would do to him, despite their friendship.

Her anger was very short with pretty much anyone. Isaac was only slightly different in this regard as they were an item and she had always had special feelings for him, so she would hold back when it came to him. But special feelings didn't mean that Isaac couldn't push her over the edge if he tried. Ivan recalled on more than one occasion when Isaac had teased her and nearly got all the hair on his head burnt off for it.

So, Felix had pissed her off and ate dirt for it. That was pretty basic stuff when it came to the siblings, so Ivan wasn't worried (although, he did idly think how Felix's pride would need a long vacation after today). His concerns, therefore, returned to Jenna's well being. She seemed to be holding in her frustration over Feizhi's visit rather well, but Ivan knew better (of course). Beneath the surface she was freaking out; panicking that Isaac would leave her. And what's more, Isaac had yet to explain the situation and tell her how he feels, which quite frankly, Ivan was a rather curious to know about himself.

If Isaac didn't like Jenna anymore, then Ivan would have an opportunity to start warming up to Jenna. But Ivan knew that Jenna would be heart-broken over a break up with Isaac, so much so that she probably wouldn't be interesting in anyone for quite some time, maybe ever. Ivan made up his mind then and there that _if_ that were to indeed happened, he would wait for Jenna to be ready for courtship again no matter how long it took.

But in all honesty, Ivan would rather have Jenna be with Isaac and happy, rather than not with Isaac and sad. It would be too much for Ivan to see her cry; the very thought of it created a knot in his throat. Even at that moment, Ivan's heart ached to see Jenna in such inner conflict. He really just wanted to hold her and comfort her somehow, in a way that wouldn't betray his feelings. He wanted to keep that flame of hers alive and burning brilliantly, even at the cost of his own happiness.

They were nearing the new town plaza. Ivan had been in such deep thought that the fields and path went by without him consciously noticing it. He hadn't said much to Jenna and wondered if she thought he was weird now. Then again, Jenna hadn't said much to anyone and he wondered if the others knew what Jenna was feeling at the moment, or if she was just as weird. But Ivan was just being paranoid.

Garet, Sheba and Feizhi had been chatting up a storm about their past adventures, coneys and bunny rabbits, and other randoms. Piers and Mia joined every once in a while to throw a few lines into the jamboree of jibber-jabber.

Laughs abounded from the 5 of them. Ivan noticed that their laughing only made Jenna look more pallid and dismal as if their joyous conversation was poison to Jenna's very spirit. Ivan stared off thinking on what he could do to possibly cheer her up… Nothing came to mind as they reached the edge of town and made toward the centre.

A tall, carved Psynergy stone obelisk had been erected there to replace the old one that was destroyed along with 'Old Vale'.

Ivan glanced over the obelisk recalling vaguely when he had visited Old Vale with Isaac, Garet and Mia on there way to save Hammet from Lunpa. It was the first time he had seen such a large Psynergy stone. When he touched it, the stone thumped with untold secrets and resonated with hidden life against his palm.

This Obelisk, however, was taller and even more wondrous to behold. And its touch was just as lively as the original Stone, if not more so from the return of Alchemy.

The Adepts gathered around it, leaning and taking seats against the pillar of lucid purple and kept on chatting.

"So, will Isaac know where we are?" Feizhi asked. "No one told him we would meet him here."

"This is kind of like one of our hang out spots," Garet answered. "And it's also where we usually meet unless we say otherwise."

"Oh, that's neat," Feizhi nodded.

"It's also a great place to start the tour," Mia added. She explained how the tour would most likely go according to how New Vale was built and they gave Feizhi a small briefing of the past couple months. Ivan listened to them absent-mindedly as he examined the Psynergy Obelisk. Jenna stood off somewhat to the side, once again, in a brooding manner. He kept an inconspicuous eye on her as he traced his fingers across the cool surface of the purple rock.

His heart still ached to see her so unhappy, but he still couldn't think of anything that he could do to help her out of her dark mood. He thought of trying to talk with her, but she didn't seem in the mood for talking. And Ivan didn't want to make a fool of himself by attempting further conversation with her.

_I should've tried a bit harder to talk with her at the sparring ring. She would have spilled if I just pushed a little more… Then again, maybe not._

Ivan sighed.

"Hey, Jenna!" Sheba suddenly said. Jenna was shaken from her own thoughts so unexpectedly that her face went ghost white for a second and then returned to only slightly ghost white (_such the improvement_). "What'd you do with Felix?" Sheba seemed to have caught on that Jenna might have really hurt him. They all saw her attack Felix, but left before seeing the rest of the fight. Jenna however, didn't open her mouth to speak. Instead, she shifted her gaze to the fields from which they had just come from and held her gaze until Sheba looked that way as well. Ivan looked too and saw Felix walking at a comfortable pace toward them.

Sheba got up to walk with him the rest of the way. As they came to the Psynergy Obelisk, Felix gave Jenna a deadpan stare, but one that held a little more meaning to it; malice probably. One could only tell if they really looked at him. Jenna returned his look with an equal stare. Ivan always thought the close resemblance of those deadpan stares they gave each other made them look more like twins rather than older brother and younger sister. Jenna broke the stare and turned away from her brother as he sat by the other Adepts with Sheba sitting closely to him.

"So, what happened to you?" Garet asked a little snidely. Felix, for once, changed his expression; his eyebrows rose slightly and his eyes were less hard as he answered him and indeed all the Adepts, for surely they wondered as well.

"Oh, you know, sibling quarrels," he said nonchalantly. "Same old stuff that usually happens between us."

"Well yes, this we could see," Piers said. "Jenna pretty much attacked you like a Dinox."

"What we want to know is what she did to you, exactly," Garet implored.

"Well if you had stuck around you could have seen it for yourself," Felix said with slight annoyance. "And maybe you could have stopped her."

"That's never a good idea!" Garet chuckled. "To get in front of Jenna when she's angry. Right, Jenna?" he called over his shoulder to her for reassurance. "I had to learn that the hard way, am I right? …Jenna?"

He was just joking of course…sort of. Garet wasn't always the brightest of the group (_and he still wasn't really_) and therefore managed to peeve Jenna on several occasions. Either that or he took joy in teasing Jenna relentlessly because she was always throwing fireballs at him. It was thought amongst the other Adepts that Garet had a little thing for Jenna during their adventure, which was proven right by a little Ivan and Sheba mind reconnaissance.

"Jenna?" Garet repeated. Jenna remained silent, ignoring him. Then, she abruptly turned to step in front of the entire group.

"I'm not feeling very well," she said, her eyes sliding over everyone avoiding eye contact, especially with Feizhi. "I'm gonna go home and take a nap. I'll see you guys later." She didn't wave; she just announced herself and then left. Ivan and the other Adepts watched her go. When she was a good enough distance away, Feizhi broke the silence.

"Uhm…" Feizhi started. "I've been meaning to ask this for some time now, but what is up with her? She doesn't seem to like me very much. Did I do something that I shouldn't have? Or is she having a really bad day or something?" Unwilling to break the truth to her, the Adepts looked away to think of something else to answer with.

"Well… she is having a bad day," Mia finally said. "That's for sure."

"It's that time of the month, you see," Sheba lied. "And she's a bit self conscious about it." Feizhi looked as though she understood _that_.

Ivan pondered as he returned his observation to the Obelisk.

_Mia and Sheba were obviously lying. The others seem to know what's going on. I should really not underestimate them. And Feizhi still doesn't know about Isaac and Jenna. Well, no one is going to say anything, I think; it's not our place to tell her. Isaac should be the one to tell her the truth of the situation. And he better do it soon because the longer this is dragged out, the more difficult it's gonna be for him to tell Feizhi. And the more difficult it's gonna be for her to handle it. _

_But, at the moment, what about Jenna…? She must be thinking a lot of terrible things. I mean, this was sprung on us all so suddenly. So, Isaac hasn't really gotten the chance to tell her anything. Luna knows what she must be imagining. And Jenna was definitely lying, sort of…. She just wanted to get away from Feizhi and everyone to avoid worry and nosiness. I wish I could do something to ease her worry…_

"Hey, Ivan! You've been awfully silent. What'cha ya thinking about?" Ivan was jolted from his thoughts unexpectantly. He scanned the group to try and figure out who had talked him. At that moment, Isaac showed up and the attention shifted from Ivan to him. Ivan mentally blew a relief sigh.

"Hey guys," Isaac greeted them. "Ready to go on that tour?"

He was wearing brown shorts and sandals with a loose, short-sleeved, white tunic tucked into a tanned belt. His signature yellow scarf was wrapped droopily around his belt by his hip, so it fluttered limply behind him when he walked giving him a somewhat dashing appeal.

Feizhi regarded him with a blush and a dumbstruck smile to which Isaac smiled widely in return. Ivan didn't like the look of that, and he understood a little more why Jenna was so paranoid: Isaac had been smiling like that since Feizhi arrived.

"Hey where'd Jenna go off to?" Isaac asked.

"She left, dude," Garet answered him.

"Oh… Well, is she alright? Why did she leave?"

"She said she was tired and went home to take a nap."

"I guess... we'll see her later then…" They were just leaving the Psynergy Obelisk when Ivan had an idea.

"Hey uh, guys?" he said to get their attention. They turned to look at him. "My legs are kinda stiff, so I'm gonna go hang with Kraden for the rest of the day." Ivan rubbed his legs to play up the lie. "You guys will have to go without me." Piers and Sheba gave him a suspicious, knowing look.

"Yeah, alright," Isaac said, completely oblivious. "We'll see ya at dinner then, I suppose."

"Yeah, definitely, and I'll bring the old man with me."

"Heh, he'll like seeing Feizhi again," Isaac chuckled. Feizhi blushed.

"Yeah. Well, later." Isaac and the others continued on their way and Ivan turned and walked in the same direction that Jenna had gone. Fortunately for him, Kraden's new cottage lay on the same path as Jenna's house.

As he walked out of the plaza, Ivan pondered how he would approach Jenna. But then his thoughts suddenly jumped to the expression that Piers and Sheba had given him.

_Do they know what I'm up to?_

_Well, Piers might know. His appearance tricks us at times to how wise he truly is. _Ivan let out a sigh. _ Oh well. If he knows, he knows. I doubt he'll say anything. He'll want to talk to me first, just to be sure. And even after he talks to me, he most likely won't say anything to anyone. So, there's no point in worrying about him._

_But what about Sheba? She could ruin this whole thing for me. Then again, she's been like a sister to me, so, judging from the way Felix and Jenna treat each other…I'd say it's half and half. She _could_ say something being the devious little gossiper that she is, but on the other hand, despite all the teasing she gives me, she might actually respect me enough to keep quiet. _

_There's no doubt though, she definitely knows how I feel about Jenna. She's a Telepath for Sol's sake! And so am I. So we've talked with our minds, and on occasion have accidentally delved a little too deep. I still can't un-see some of the things that I saw in Sheba's head. Yeesh! Anyway, as with Piers, if she says something, there's not much I can do about it now so there's no point in worrying about it. I'll just deny it anyway._

Ivan's thoughts returned to Jenna as the road led him westward to where there were fewer houses. It curved to the right around a bend that cut into a grassy hill. To his right, the hill went upward and at the top was Kraden's workshop-villa. To his left, the hill dipped into a short field of rye grass with a creek running parallel with the road.

At the end of this curving road, before it wound its way up the backside of the hill, was Jenna's home. Ivan saw it come into view. It was a rather large house built with that new 'frame structure', and a roof made of wooden shingles. Most of the houses in New Vale had been built this way (as opposed to Old Vale where most of the houses were built using the 'stacked logs' and 'thatched roof' method).

However, this house was slightly different from others in New Vale. It had a porch surrounding the ground floor, and there was a third floor balcony on its rear that looked out on to a stretch of unused flat, grassland.

Ivan remembered that Jenna fought with Felix over the third floor room -which had that balcony- when they moved in. What they agreed on was who ever reached the room first would have the room as their bedroom. Felix beat her to it, but being the dutiful and generous big brother that he is, gave Jenna the room knowing how much she wanted it. That, and Jenna threatened to break his arm after pinning him to the floor.

Funny how Jenna could beat Felix whenever she felt like it but Isaac couldn't do it until today. This was due (probably) to Felix considering it inexcusable to physically fight with his sister; he just would not do it. So, to compensate, he beat the living hell out of Isaac. Ivan had figured that bit out, once again, with a little mental reconnaissance.

From behind a thin white layer of overcast, the sun shone hazily in the mid-afternoon sky as Ivan came closer to Jenna's front door.

_Alright, so the plan is: knock on the door, use the same excuse I used before, confront Jenna and talk to her to see how she's doing and hopefully try to cheer her up and… I'll see how it goes from there I guess. _

_ But won't this seem kind of… I don't know… weird? showing up right after she said that she's leaving to take a nap? What if she really is taking a nap? What then?_

_Hmm… I must be friendly… and nonchalant. That way, I won't expose my true feelings. Just be a concerned and ready-to-comfort friend. _

_But I am here for more than just friendly purposes, aren't I? _

_Yes, but I can't come across as more than a friend._

_But isn't this also… wrong? I mean, she's dating Isaac. Isaac should be the one doing this, not me. _

_But, he isn't doing this, is he? He's off with Feizhi, not showing the least bit concern for his girlfriend. If anything, I'm doing him a favor by taking his place as the consoler. And I'm happy to take his place; all I want is for Jenna to be happy again._

_So, if Jenna is just a little bit happier after this, then it will be worth it. She'll be happy, Isaac will be happy, and I'll be happy… sort of._

_But then, what if there really is a problem here? What if Isaac is really going to break up with Jenna for Feizhi? Hmm…_

_Well, regardless, I, at the very least, want to know how she's doing at the moment. And if she's really a mess, then I'll try to cheer her up._

_Let's do this- wait. What if she really is taking a nap?_

_…Well… let's just start with knocking on the door and seeing where it goes from there. A little friendly concern never hurt anyone._

Loops and circles…

Ivan walked up to the porch, his footsteps louder on the wood than he would have wished.

_Wait a minute, what do I care? I'm not sneaking in. I'm just nervous. 'A little friendly concern never hurt anyone…'_

He raised his fist to the door and held it there in hesitation. He shook his head and rapped his fist against the door before he changed his mind.

Three, 'nonchalant' knocks. Silence.

And then, Ivan heard footsteps on wood approaching him from behind the door. He prepared to smile brightly with his last remaining second and then the door opened inward.

"Oh, hello Ivan!" A buxom woman with wavy brown hair and a kind face lined with age had opened the door. It was Jenna's mother.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Pavelssen. Is Jenna here?" Ivan flashed a bright 'nonchalant' smile just like he intended.

"Yes she's in her room. Come on in." Ivan took the offer and stepped in. He quickly scanned the main foyer and what he could see of the adjoining rooms. No sign of Jenna; only various décor and tapestries. She really was in her room.

"Can I get you something Ivan?" Mrs. Pavelssen asked politely. "Some tea and biscuits, perhaps?"

"Oh, no thank you, Mrs. Pavelssen. I just came over to see Jenna."

"Well, she came in not too long ago. She looked rather flustered though, and she didn't say much to me when she came in. Did something happen?" A pang of longing ran through Ivan; longing to help Jenna.

"Uh, no, nothing that I know of," Ivan lied. "That's actually why I'm here. You see, she left us abruptly without a word, leaving us to think she was very distraught about something. So, I decided to stop by on my way to Kraden's to see if she was alright."

"Oh, I see. Where's everyone else?"

"Well they're giving a tour to a foreigner who stopped by around lunch time," Ivan said. "I would have gone with them, but my legs were feeling a bit stiff."

"So you decided to stop by on your way to Kraden's to see if Jenna was alright…" She trailed off as if she were thinking it through. Ivan nodded to reassure her. "You know, Jenna is lucky to have a friend like you, Ivan." He felt rather conflicted about that compliment. However, he couldn't stop from blushing, and he grinned sheepishly with bashful pride. Mrs. Pavelssen smiled softly at his reaction. "Well, Jenna's upstairs. See if you can't brighten her day." A knowing glitter flashed across her eyes as she said that.

"Alright, Mrs. Pavelssen, I'll try." _It's exactly what I intend to do._

She smiled quaintly and then went to the living room. Ivan began going up the stairs. He realized now that with every step, he came closer to Jenna. For some reason, this really frightened him. His heart beat faster with each step.

He reached the second floor. Across the longish, second floor hall were 2 flights of stairs adjacent to each other. The one on the left went back down to the kitchen on the ground floor, and the other on the right went up to Jenna's room.

Ivan urged himself forward, but allowed himself to take his time. He prepared in his mind what he could say and how he would present himself. He knew he had to be nonchalant and friendly, but he wasn't sure if he could in fact do that. He became more nervous with each step and doubt threatened to destroy his sanity.

At that point, something in Ivan's head completely shifted backwards. Whatever courage he had was reduced to nothing in a second and totally replaced by doubt. He realized his plan was not very well thought out and it fell apart in his head instantly.

His heart beat faster, his palms became clammy, and he felt as though his body temperature had become as hot as one of Kraden's experiments gone volatile. Doubtful thoughts ricocheted against the corners of his mind giving rise to more unsure thoughts like a chained reaction.

Jenna was so close, yet, so far away. The blood had drained from his face and his legs trembled uncontrollably. He couldn't see Jenna like this! He just couldn't!

Ivan played several scenarios in his mind. He could return to his cabin that he shared with Piers and meditate for the rest of the day. He could take a walk in the surrounding forestland. He could leave and go straight to Kraden's.

No, it was too late now, he couldn't back out. Doubt and uncertainty were out of the question; he had to go through with this.

He was at the foot of Jenna's stairwell. She would most likely hear him coming up. He mustn't be hesitant with his climb or it may make her suspicious of him. Jenna, of course, wouldn't know who it was that was climbing to her room, but depending on the sound of ascending footfalls on rather audible wood, it would surely alert her to who it _might_ be and their purpose.

Then again, she might not even be paying attention, but that was most likely impossible. Ivan had been up there before to know that it was very difficult to ignore the sound of someone stomping up those stairs (even if her door was closed and the stair-climber was trying not to stomp). The stairs rose in a steep-ish, narrow, dim-lit spiral making the climb a rather difficult and echoic one.

Ivan realized, however, that he was giving all this way too much thought and should just go up there without worrying or thinking.

And so he decided.

He took a deep breath and slowly began the climb. He made sure (just in case) to keep his stomping clearly heard and nonchalant. He wasn't intentionally making stomping sounds, but he also made sure not to 'sneak' or even attempt to 'sneak' up the stairs.

What Ivan had no control over was his heart; it pumped furiously against his chest and gained speed with every step. His mind was in the best mind-set he could get it in, but with the quivering of his small chest and the renewed trembling in his legs, he wasn't sure if he would appear the way he intended.

Once again, doubt began to trickle into the puny defences of his courage (or idiocy) and resolve. But he shoved the negativity away, this time with more ease than before and for it he felt slightly less shaken and bolder.

Then he came to Jenna's door.

But instead of allowing doubt to continue battle with his newly found daring, he took one last deep breath and knocked (nonchalantly) on the door.

…

No answer. Not even a sound from within the room.

He knocked again.

… Nothing.

Ivan was about to knock again when he heard Jenna's muffled voice shout to him.

"Who is it?"

"It's Ivan." He shouted back casually.

"Who- oh, it doesn't matter. Just go away, I'm napping."

Ivan was a little put off by this. He didn't know if he should say his name again, or knock again, or leave. Then, instead of any of those things, he chose an even bolder move: he would just walk in, despite her telling him to go away and the obvious outcomes that could come from such an action.

He reached for the door knob, but paused.

_What if it's locked? Then I'll look like an impolite fool or an angry stalker or something..._

He thought for a second more and then chose to try his luck anyway. Maybe she would open the door if he was persistent.

It wasn't locked.

Ivan pushed the door open and stepped into Jenna's room, at last.

It was a tad stuffy and a little too warm in the room. Ivan instantly wondered how Jenna put up with such inconvenience. He looked to her bed on his left. It was untidy, but Jenna was not in it.

He gave a quick look-around of her room. It was small, yet cozy and hadn't changed much since the last time he was up there.

Just behind Ivan to his right was a nook where the numerous pieces of equipment that Jenna had gathered on her journey lay against the wall gathering dust. On the floor in the center of the room there was a red carpet with simple designs on it. A few pieces of clothing littered the room in various places.

The ceiling, instead of being parallel with the floor, slanted steeply with the roof; the low end was just over a small window over looking her bed and the high end was high over the right side of her room.

Her wardrobe cabinet stood with its doors slightly ajar next to her desk opposite the bed. Loose parchment and charcoal pens lay ignored on the desk. Miscellaneous trinkets and objects from around Weyard were hanging from the ceiling and on the wall and also on her bookshelf near the balcony door.

Ivan noticed the balcony door was open and there on the balcony was the mahogany-red haired beauty, looking out across the green expanse of land behind her house.

Ivan, once again, became aware of his rapidly beating heart. He was nervous and excited so much that he couldn't keep his abdomen from quivering twitchily, shaking him as if he were shivering. Far from being cold, he felt like he was a Mars Adept he was so hot with apprehension.

He tried to focus on Jenna and his purpose for being there to keep his mind from straying to risqué thoughts. He couldn't really help himself; he was in the room of the girl he had a crush on. However, he vowed not to let himself get carried away (not that that would be a problem for a nervous, teenage boy such as him).

Ivan shut the door behind him, closing it with an audible click. Jenna stirred and peeked into her room to face her unwanted visitor. Ivan smiled and waved awkwardly. Jenna stepped into the room to meet him with a frown.

"Ivan?" she asked.

"Uh, hi."

"What're you doing here?" Ivan could sense irritation in her voice.

"I, uh…" Ivan scratched the back of his head.

"I thought I said to go away."

"Well, I…wanted to see you." Jenna gave him a peculiar look. "To see how you were doing," he added quickly.

_Smooth…_

"Well as you can see, I'm doing fine," she said with a straight face. Ivan was again put off. He did not know what he should do. He had expected Jenna to be more sad than angry.

_Well, that's just it. She probably is sad, but she's hiding it behind anger._

"You can leave now, Ivan. And tell anyone else who came with you not to worry about me."

"Well, uh, actually, I came alone," he said slightly awkward.

"…Whatever," she responded indifferently.

Jenna slowly turned around and stepped back out on to the balcony again.

_Well she's not exactly the emotionally distraught mess that I pictured, but then…I was being a little dramatic in thinking that. This is Jenna, the most stubborn girl I know, not some crybaby. Even if she's dying on the inside, she would not express it little more than she has with today's situation. At least, I think so…_

_Alright, enough thinking. Geez! Let's do what I came here to do._

The Jovian followed her onto the balcony and leaned on the railing gazing at the field. The sun was little more than an hour away from sunset. The overcast was beginning to clear from the sky; it had mostly bunched up in the East. What remained in the sky were a few small smudges of white against the light blue.

Ivan looked over to the taller girl. She was looking out onto the wide field with a straight expression and unfocused eyes. Ivan guessed that she was deep in thought at the moment. He decided it would be better to not call her out on her 'napping' lie.

"Are you sure you're alright?" _Well that's a stupid question!_

But Jenna didn't snap back with 'yes' right away. Instead, she just sighed.

"Jenna, if you want a hug, I'm here for ya'." She smiled slightly at that.

"Nah, Ivan, it's alright… It's just, Isaac." She paused for a moment. Ivan waited for her to go on, his eyes on her with friendly consideration and his ears ready to listen to anything she might have to say. "He's never acted like this before and it's just got me worried. Feizhi, too. The instant I saw her, I knew something was up."

"_'Something was up?'_ There might not be anything up." Ivan lied.

"Maybe… But they kept giving each other weird looks and acting weird around each other. It all feels way too sketchy to me." Ivan got the feeling that Jenna was holding back a lot more than she was saying; that she was much more paranoid about all this than she let on even though she was opening up. "What do you think?"

"Me? Ahh…pssh, I don't know. I think… that… there might be something up, but nothing to worry about." Jenna shot him a stare through the corner of her eyes.

"Really…" she said skeptically.

"Well, yeah sure. I mean, maybe Feizhi does like Isaac. But I don't think Isaac would be that shifty. If anything, he's trying to let her down easy." Jenna turned to face him fully with one hand on the railing. He had her attention. "Think about it, Feizhi had come all the way from Xian just to see him. Do you really think Isaac was going to break her heart then and there by exposing to her that he had been taken by another? It would have destroyed her. And Isaac is too nice to do something that mean."

"You got a point there. Did you read his mind?"

"Uh, no… I'm just speculating. But it makes sense doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Jenna agreed nodding slightly. She seemed to be coming around.

"I bet this whole time Isaac has been hoping that you don't take this the wrong way; that you won't be upset. So, please don't be sad Jenna. It… makes us all worry."

"Oh really? Then why is everyone else being so friendly to Feizhi? Are they in on it or something?"

"Actually… yeah, I think they are." Jenna frowned at him. "Jenna, it's not any of our places to break the news to Feizhi; it's Isaac's. And seeing as how we are all such good friends, I think they knew what was up the same moment you got suspicious and went along with Isaac for his and Feizhi's sake. Not only that, but Feizhi _is_ a friend, our friend, so had this whole mess not been happening, we would have received her in much the same way anyway."

Jenna looked away at this pondering what he said. Ivan knew though that he had succeeded in allaying her fears (with the power of logic and reasoning! Oh, Kraden). She opened her mouth to say something but then shut it. And then, she smiled. She turned to Ivan. He smiled back widely, his own happiness quadrupled by her smile.

"Thanks, Ivan. I'm really glad you came by." She swooped in to hug him, which he received with momentary surprise, but abiding to it he wrapped his arms around her back. Pure bliss. Jenna let out a deep breath of relief as Ivan held her gently.

They parted after a moment but continued to look at each other still with smiles on their faces. Ivan felt an urge to kiss her, but shoved it away. It wouldn't be right.

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better. I'll go now." Ivan made to leave but felt a hand on his shoulder preventing him from going further.

"Wait! You don't have to go. Won't you stay?" Jenna asked him, almost like a child. Ivan gave her a peculiar look, but then smiled again.

"Of course, I'll stay."

They ended up talking for quite some time. They talked as the sun went down below the trees on the horizon; as the blue sky went through progressively darker shades allowing the stars to twinkle into existence; as the crickets and croakers of the night began their romantic symphonies and the fireflies became little winking stars of their own all along the field. But eventually, Ivan had to leave to grab the old Alchemist on the hill and take him to dinner.

"Jenna, are you coming to dinner with the rest of us? I know Kraden would be happy to see you."

"No, I don't think I'm ready for… you know…"

"Ah, yeah…" Ivan nodded with dismal understanding. "Alright, well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yup." Ivan made to leave. "And Ivan?" Ivan turned to her with his eyebrows raised. "Thanks, again." He stared at her for a moment before going back to her and giving her a hug. She received it instantly wrapping her arms around him. Ivan's chin barely reached over her shoulder. Then Ivan broke the hug, but didn't release hold of her arms just yet. He looked into her eyes and smiled confidently.

"Anytime, Jenna."

…

As Ivan walked out the front door, a shadow of a person loomed toward Ivan in the near-dark.

"Ivan?" A voice from the figure said. Ivan squinted to see: it was Felix. "What are you doing here?"

Ivan froze.

He looked to Felix who was giving him a deadpan, peculiar look; one eyebrow was raised. Ivan needed to get out of there quickly before Felix started asking more questions.

"Uhh… what are _you_ doing here?" Ivan retorted. Felix almost recoiled in confusion at that.

"I _live_ here."

"Exactly." Then Ivan ran off before Felix could say anything.

* * *

So, that's Chapter 6. I hope you review.

Chapter 7 has not even been started. And with college and other stuff taking up most my of time, don't expect Chapter 7 any time soon. You're in for the long haul now. The best of luck to those of you who don't have patience. As a plus though, I am determined to finish this story so I will post the next chapter eventually.

-TLotW


	7. Chapter 7

Hello, hello. It's been a long time. So I wrote about half of this back in October (if I can recall correctly) and with my college semester recently coming ending, I sat down and whipped out the rest of this chapter. Took me about a week to finish the next half. I got the Kraken to help me out. And I doubt anyone will understand that horrible joke. (that I sat down and got crackin. heheh...no? nothing? ok whatever.)

Moving on.

So read it and tell me what ya think. Or don't read it and GTFO! (LOLs)

Enjoy.

* * *

Golden Days of Love

Chapter 7

Isaac walked in the middle of the group of his friends. Feizhi walked beside him very closely during the whole tour. They were finally coming to the end of the sightseeing. Isaac hadn't said much. He had begun to feel awkward around Feizhi, almost jumpy. He wasn't sure what to do about her, how he would tell her. All he could do was smile and be as polite as he could until he knew exactly what to say to her.

They hadn't exactly gotten the chance to talk alone though; his friends always seemed to keep him busy. And even if they got alone time, _what would he say?_ The question repeated itself along with many others in his head like a persistent mosquito buzzing around his ear, except he couldn't casually swat them away. She traveled all that way just to be with him. That was obvious. He could see that plainly about her. The way she talked to him, looked fondly at him, walked next to him. His friends most likely knew too. It was simply all too obvious. Bless their hearts they hadn't said anything…yet.

But Jenna, what about her? Surely she must be confused about all this. To be quite honest, Isaac wasn't sure why she hadn't blurted out the truth at the first sign of trouble. But he was thankful for it. Or was he? Maybe it would be better just to get out with the truth and not tease Feizhi with the prospect of a future together. Many times throughout the day Isaac had thought of interrupting someone from whatever they were saying and spilling out the truth if only to alleviate the knotted tension he felt in his stomach. But he couldn't do that to Feizhi; he wouldn't do that to anyone – making something intimately private public and without remorse for feelings; it would be too cruel. Even though it seemed as if Feizhi herself was barely able to keep her feelings bottled up.

But Jenna…

The fact that she hadn't let out whatever it was she was feeling only meant that she was hurting even more. Her emotions needed release in order for her to be happy and sane. If she didn't get that release in some fashion -Isaac thought back to earlier when she pounced on Felix like a predator on wounded prey. Well, at least she got some release, albeit at the expense of Felix.

The tour had gone all the way around New Vale. Bits and pieces of chatter would filter into his head in between his thoughts. Garet and Mia appeared to be the lead tour-guides as they talked the most and had the most knowledge on the town. This perplexed Isaac slightly. Garet wasn't the best at remembering things, or so Isaac had assumed. And Mia wasn't a local. It actually amazed Isaac that they knew so much about New Vale. And he said so.

"Well, one day I'm gonna be mayor of this town," Garet proclaimed. "It's only proper that I know the ins-and-outs of New Vale and the land around it. You see," he leaned toward Feizhi, grinning with pride and boastfully thumbing his chest. "I'm the mayor's grandson!"

"The mayor's grandson giving me a tour? I'm honoured!" She said with a tone of light sarcasm and a returning smile. Garet kept grinning widely all the same.

"But Garet, don't the citizens of Vale vote for its new mayor?" Mia asked with a curt smile.

Garet's eyes darted quickly from side to side. "Uhh…maybe… Pssh, I helped save the world. It's in the bag!" Everyone threw on dubious expressions (except for Isaac who was lost in thought again).

"Yeah sure, Garet," Mia said cynically.

"I've heard you use that phrase before," Feizhi said. "What does it mean?"

"What, 'it's in the bag'? It means…uhh…" Garet stalled.

"It means that it's 'unanimous'," Mia chimed. "That it is a sure thing; it will happen."

"Oh, ok." Feizhi understood. Mia elbowed Garet with another curt smile expressing her superior intelligence, to which Garet looked away irritated.

"So, what about you Mia?" Isaac queried returning to earth for a moment. "How do you know so much about New Vale?"

"Well, I make it a necessity to know as much as I can about a place of current dwelling, mostly so I can find herbs, but also so I can feel more at home."

"Well you two know more than me. That's for sure. It's kind of embarrassing really…" Isaac mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Do you ever miss your home, Mia?" Feizhi asked.

"Well, of course. But life has led me here and here is where I will stay for a while, at least while I'm still needed. I'm sure I'll see Imil again one day."

"And Piers? Sheba? You're not from around here, right? Do you miss your home?" Piers and Sheba glanced away awkwardly as if the question pained them. Feizhi looked as though she had asked something wrong. "Oh… I understand. You don't have to tell me."

Piers looked back to her. "I do miss my home, Feizhi. And I may continue to miss it for a long time."

"Y'know what?" Garet suddenly blurted. "Forget them, man. Who are they to say that you can't go back?"

"They are the Senate," Piers said unblinking, but Garet ignored him.

"So what? You saved the world, Piers. The rest of Lemuria would be overjoyed to see you. They'd welcome you back as a hero. You shouldn't let some old geezers tell you what you're gonna do."

"It's not that easy, Garet. But then again," Piers tapped his chin. "The Senate was wrong about Alchemy. Maybe they would let me return if they saw the error in their beliefs."

"Yeah, exactly man. You should go home." Mia shot Garet such a quick glance that no one, unless they were looking directly at her, would have seen the flash of irritation in her eyes.

"Garet, are you kicking me out of Vale?" Piers asked with a recoiled sarcastic smile.

"What? Er, no, I just… Uh… I meant, when you're ready to go home, you should and don't let what those old senate geezers said make you think otherwise."

Piers chuckled. "I'm kidding, Garet. I know what you meant."

Sheba was silent and had slowed down to walk behind the group during this bit of conversation. Felix had sensed Sheba's dismay at the conversation and so slowed down with her. He took her small hand in his and squeezed it gently. When no one was looking, she nuzzled her forehead against his arm for a second; a gesture which said "thank you".

The group found its way in the southwestern fields which were alongside the main road to the plaza. Garet was explaining what they were used for, which was crops, mostly corn. Garet had suggested, no, more like tenaciously persisted growing more corn in remembrance to Tolbi's delicious "Colosso Corn". There was an orchard too, opposite one of the corn fields. Apple trees and peach trees in full bloom were lined up in rows. In the middle of the corn fields was a lone tree that stood out like a massive edifice on a flat plain. The tree was big, its trunk wide, and its branches thick and good for climbing. It was in fact another hang out spot for the Hero Adepts. The nearly setting sun was bathing its leaves as they rustled in a breeze which caught Isaac's attention. To Isaac, the tree looked to be writhing and dancing like bright green flames.

His thoughts went to Jenna. The two of them used to spend a lot of time in that tree, even before Old Vale was destroyed. It wasn't as close to Old Vale though as it is now to New Vale, so it survived the destructive sinking of Mt. Aleph. Spending the day at the tree when he was a young boy almost assured a walk home in the dark. And the corn stalks growing there now were not there back then; it used to be just a field of tall grass. Isaac remembered he, Garet, Jenna and Felix used to go there nearly everyday as kids. And as they got older and began camping out of town, they would often set up their tents and a campfire beneath the tree's outstretching boughs. When they had all returned from Prox, one of the first things he and Jenna did was go sit together at its trunk. They had held each other in silence gazing on the land and enjoying each other's company.

Isaac wondered why she had left them today and why she was acting so distant. It had to be because of Feizhi.

_She's not stupid. She probably sees what's going on here. And she doesn't know what my true intentions are. I haven't been able to tell her. I really hope this doesn't become a serious problem._

Something Garet said brought his attention back to the group. "Well, that's about all of New Vale. Let's head back for dinner. It's getting late and I'm starving!"

"You're always hungry Garet," Piers said.

"I know… I think I may have some kind of eating disease. Y'know? Like one where food tastes really, really good." The adepts chuckled at that.

"Actually there is still one spot in New Vale that Feizhi hasn't seen," Piers said.

"Oh yeah…" Garet agreed with him because he knew what he was referring to. "Starfalls! Although, that's not really in New Vale, but more like on the unofficial border of town. When we go there, we stay over night in the wilderness; it's kind of a long hike from here."

"Well, what is it exactly? Starfalls?" Feizhi asked.

"It's a magnificent waterfall," Piers answered. "Well actually a set of cascading waterfalls with pools and places to jump into them."

"Why is it called Starfalls?"

"Ah, to tell you that would ruin the surprise should you ever visit there."

"We haven't been there in a while," Mia said. "The last time was at the end of last summer when we came back from our quest. We definitely needed the vacation after what we'd been through. Hey! You know? It's probably warm enough to start going there again. We should plan a trip to go soon."

_Oh boy… I know where this is going…_

"Yeah and we should bring Feizhi along for sure," Garet said.

_Yep, I knew it. Thanks Garet, you've only made things more complicated. (Sigh). If they really do know what's going on, then they are definitely playing dumb or doing their best to make this difficult for me._

"Oh really? I'd love to go! It sounds magnificent!" said Feizhi enthused.

"It most certainly is," Mia said. "You would love it."

"Hey…" Garet said. "Where'd Felix and Sheba go?" The Adepts looked around. Felix and Sheba were nowhere in sight.

"I don't know," Piers said. They were here a moment ago… I think."

"Ah whatever," Garet shrugged. "I'm sure we'll see them at dinner."

The adepts reached the centre of the plaza. The tall Obelisk was gleaming in the orange sunlight as it usually did on days like this. Isaac in his spacey mood was easily mesmerized by its iridescent beauty. The colour of it was a dark purple, almost black. It shifted hues throughout the day; dusk made it darker.

"So, dinner at my place," Piers said. "Ivan and I are going to cook up some good stuff tonight so don't be late."

Oh, geez, Ivan's cooking again?" Garet complained. "Every time he cooks food, I spend a day in bed clutching my stomach."

"Well, to be fair, that was his first time cooking a real home-style meal. Nothing close to what we had to make out in the wild. It takes time, preparation, practice, experience, and lots of patience. I've been teaching him how to cook and he seems to be showing improvement."

"Yeah, sure… The last time he cooked, he decided to blast the chicken with lightning thinking it would cook faster. Ha! What a joke."

"That's because you pressured him to cook it faster."

"Details, my dear Lemurian, details," Garet said with a wave of his hand.

"Alright Garet, how about I tell you that I'll be doing all the cooking? Will that make you feel better?"

"Yes, in fact it will. Ignorance is bliss in my book."

"Very well then. Oh, and Feizhi, to get to my house from here, just go this way (Piers pointed northward). You remember which one it is right? From the tour?" Feizhi nodded. "Great, dinner's in a few hours, but you can come over earlier if you'd like."

"Couldn't I just come with you now?" Feizhi asked.

"Well, you could, but we usually all go home and wash up before re-meeting for dinner."

"Oh, good point."

"Isaac, you comin man?" Garet asked. They usually walk back to their houses together seeing as how they're neighbors.

"Uh…no. I'm gonna stay here for a bit." His eyes glanced over Garet momentarily and then returned to the Obelisk. "I want to, uh… think and, admire the sunset."

"Alright man, see ya later then." Garet left via the northeastern street and Piers went northward. Isaac returned to staring intently at the Obelisk. Feizhi and Mia walked off talking.

"Feizhi, where are you staying tonight?" Mia asked.

"I've rented a room at the inn."

"Now, now that won't do. Come, you'll stay with me and Sheba."

"Well, alright. But I'll stay in the inn just this night. I already paid for the room and all."

"I suppose that makes sense. Wouldn't be good to waste your money. Alright, see you at dinner." Mia ran to catch up to Piers; her house was near to Piers and Ivan's.

Everyone left. Isaac was alone to think and stare at this sparkling stone.

_ Wow, what a day! And here I thought it'd be like all the other days off. Feizhi showing up was quite unexpected. I kinda wish she hadn't come though. It's not that I don't like her; it's not that at all. It's just that I wish she hadn't shown up at that moment. I wish I could've had a head's up to figure out what I would do rather than trying to figure it out as I go. Going on that quest taught me how to think quickly and make split second decisions, but when it comes to this…when it comes to girls…I've got no experience. I mean, this would not be an easy situation for anyone even with experience with this kind of thing. But I might as well be ten years old again I'm so lost._

_ Girls…_

_ Well, it's no use wishing for something to not happen that has already happened. I shouldn't deal any problem of mine with "what-if"s and "woulda-shoulda-coulda"s. Thinking like that won't get the problem solved. It will only get me caught up in an intricate spider-web of fantasies and eventually make me too scared to take action._

_ Heh, I feel like I'm starting my quest all over again._

_I should follow Feizhi to the inn right now and explain everything to her, get it over with. I mean, I love Jenna, not Feizhi. Feizhi is chasing a dream that will never happen and she is chasing it rather persistently by coming all the way here. It's actually quite annoying. But that doesn't mean I'm going to be mean about it. I don't hate Feizhi; she is my friend after all._

_But in reality, no matter what angle I come at this dilemma from, there's no way Feizhi isn't going to be upset about this. So, just go get it over with._

His mind was willing, but his body didn't budge. He was more or less paralyzed.

_I know how this will end. In the end, the truth will come out one way or the other. But the manner in which it comes out is still entirely up to me at this point. Wouldn't it be better to stop this right now? while I still have the power to do so? before it gets out of hand? Yes it would._

Isaac forced his foot to move. It slid limply against the ground as if a heavy weight were balanced on his toes.

_Come on! Move!_

His Psynergy lashed out and literally moved his foot. Isaac lost his balance and fell backward. He hadn't intended to use Psynergy and it had indeed surprised him. It came out, he knew, because of his close proximity to the Obelisk, but it would have never happened if not for his frustration.

_Wow, I'm pathetic…_

He decided lying on the ground was appropriate for his mood, so he stayed still and shut his eyes to the blue sky above. Another thought tangent was about to arise when he heard someone's voice real close to him.

"What're you doing on the ground, silly?" It was a girl's voice.

_Feizhi._

Isaac opened his eyes and cheery, leaf-green eyes met his vision from mere inches away. Even though he knew who it was, he was still surprised to see her, especially since her face was so close to his (close enough to easily kiss). He tried to hide the fear he felt with her being so close to him, but couldn't. He was, after all, thinking of her and the whole problem just an instant ago. Feizhi saw it but misconstrued it for embarrassment.

"You don't have to feel embarrassed." She backed away a bit. "I lay on the ground too when I think." Isaac sat up still looking at her with surprised fear as if she had really kissed him just now. "Actually, I was a little worried though." Her eyes angled down at the ground. "I saw you fall and then you didn't get up so…" Her eyes circled back up to meet his. "I came over to see if you were alright." She smiled lightly, almost hesitantly; her eyes flickered a mixture of uncertainty and wanting.

Isaac was dumbfounded; he didn't know how to respond to her. He just kept staring at her and she kept staring back.

_I should really say something. If this keeps up any longer, she might move in for a…_

"What's with that look? Is there food in my teeth or something?"

Isaac felt his head shake ever so slightly. She frowned a smile.

"Come on." She pulled his hand to get up. Isaac complied not knowing what else to do. Her hand was soft and gentle, yet strong which told him that beneath that flowery visage was quite possibly a killer martial artist (which was all the more reason not to make her upset).

They walked now, southward, back to the fields. Isaac compliantly let himself be led by her hand for a little bit.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"You'll see when we get there." She said simply. Isaac stared at the back of her head, her lavender, braided loops and ponytail bouncing cutely with her every step, and smiled dazedly as Déjà vu overcame him. She had led him in much the same manner when they were in Xian to the view of the valley. The viewpoint where they had first kissed.

The sun was a burning orange circle above the western horizon as Isaac and Feizhi picked their way through the growing corn stalks of the southwestern field. It was at about this time that Ivan was comforting Jenna on her bedroom porch.

They came to a small clearing with a lone tree in the center. It was _the_ tree.

"So you wanted to show me this tree, huh?" Isaac smiled slightly. _This tree, this spot of all places. How ironic._

"I thought it would be a good place to talk and be alone."

_Be alone…oh crap… I shoulda known that was what she was planning. But then, I think a part of me did know. Well then why did I let it happen? …I don't know…_

"Well, this has been fun but I think we should go back now," Isaac said nervously. He made to leave, but noticed Feizhi wasn't following him. Instead, she was climbing the tree, and rather expertly too, like an acrobat.

"Feizhi, what're you-"

"C'mon Isaac. Climb up here with me. It will give us a great view of the sunset."

Isaac sighed and cursed in his mind. He grabbed a low tree branch and ascended the tree after Feizhi. As he climbed, memories of all the time he had spent here with Jenna flourished in his mind. With every tree branch he grabbed onto another memory flashed behind his eyes. Guilt poured out of his heart and pumped into his muscles making him feel almost too weak to climb.

Isaac's heart pumped irregularly hard as the two of them perched on a thick branch that overlooked the western fields. The leaves of the trees were obstructing their view however, so Isaac, practically on instinct, used his Psynergy to move the leaves and branches out of the way giving them a clear view of Sol.

"Oh it's so beautiful!" Feizhi said in awe. Isaac glanced at her taking note of the expression on her face as she gazed at the sunset, and how the golden rays of the sun had changed the tone of her hair and skin. And how _beautiful_ she looked. His heart hammered against his chest, each blow more guilt-ridden than the last.

He looked away feeling extremely flustered. He focused on the view spread out before him to try and calm his heart. Everything was bathed in amber light. The tree line at one end of the corn field splayed the light into rays that looked like numerous fingers. The distant western mountain tops were plainly visible on the clear horizon. In contrast to the amber sun, the sky above was a stark blue which became darker as the sun sank. It wasn't anything Isaac hadn't seen before during his travels. In fact he saw even more dramatic sunsets out at sea, but he still had to agree that it definitely was gorgeous. This sunset.

"Isaac?" Feizhi started. Isaac felt her eyes on him and his heart instantly revved up the beating. He felt his entire body tense up for a fraction of a second when she had said his name. He assumed she would keep talking and so kept his vision on the sunset. When she didn't say anything he reluctantly turned his vision to her thinking that what she wanted to say required his full attention.

"Yes?" He said. Their eyes met for a moment, but still Feizhi did not say anything. She looked confused and smiled awkwardly. Looking into her now jade green eyes, Isaac somehow felt better. His fear was not gone completely, but it had diminished drastically. He wasn't sure why he felt better. Maybe it was the look of distraught on her face that told him he had to be unfearful for her sake that made him feel better. Or maybe it was that just looking into her eyes calmed him and brought him tranquility.

His blue eyes looked on her kindly as he waited patiently for her to talk. But then she looked away, downward.

"What is it, Feizhi?" Still he waited for her to respond. She turned her head to him but did not look up. Instead, her hands moved to touch the golden bracelet around his wrist. Despite no skin contact, the gentle yet intense way she touched him made his body go delightfully frisson.

She finally spoke. "There's…so much I want to say to you, so much I've been wanting to say, but…I have no idea where to begin." Isaac stared at her unsure of what to say. "I mean, I thought this would be simpler. I thought I knew what I was going to say to you when I saw you. But, something felt…off." Isaac's thoughts went to Jenna. "Or maybe I was just more nervous than I thought I would be… I don't know."

Now Isaac looked away, thinking. He looked at the sunset. He should tell her the truth. Now. This very instant. But the thought of ruining this subtle feeling of pleasure that was welling up from nowhere seemed simply…

…wrong.

Lot's of things came to mind then on what he could do or say, but they all implied something that he didn't want to imply to someone who liked him and whom he didn't like back...

_Or rather that he couldn't like back._

That thought surprised him. It came to him as if from someone else. As if from the depths of himself, there was another entity telling him what the truth really was. _Couldn't_ like? No, that couldn't be the truth. Isaac didn't accept this thought as truth. He didn't even accept it as one of his own thoughts. He was certain that some deity was playing with his mind now.

He felt Feizhi's uncertain gaze on him. She was waiting for him to say something for surely she noticed his contemplative expression.

Isaac faced her. He looked into her jade green eyes and was captivated.

_Stuck_.

The thought arose again, his mind fumbled with it over and over. _Couldn't_ like, _couldn't_ like, _couldn't_ like. There was a lot he wanted to say to her as well, but he had no clue where to start. Feizhi didn't look as if she was going to say anything more.

He was mesmerized by her eyes twinkling in the last rays of Sol. If someone didn't say something quick, this would not end well.

_Or it may end great._

He tried to avert his gaze, but managed only to see the few, tiny, almost invisible freckles on the tops of her cheeks. And they were getting closer. And turning red.

Isaac looked back into her eyes. He could clearly see the detail of her leaf-green irises.

As Sol disappeared below the horizon, the thought came up again.

_Couldn't_ like.

_Did_ like.

* * *

I tell ya, this stuff I write is Grade A. No. Grade S! No. Grade SSS! Smokin' Sick Style, baby!!!

...Not really.

So... now review. Yeah, you review and I'll get back to you with a kind word maybe. It really depends on the review you give me.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far. And to anyone who has taken their time out to read this stuff.

Expect chapter 8 sometime next year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

-TLotW

...I miss Vergil...


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